In reply to Captain Theresa 'Teri' Harris (msg # 3):

"Yes it was very hard on Thoma, along with Thanek and Vora. And that is why Thoma and I really wanted Vethia here with us when we were given the opportunity.  I don't want to miss a second of Vethia growing up." he finishes with the dad grin when talking about Vethia.

"I remember reading the reports about the then Lt. Singh when I joined the ship and started some of our exploits." he adds. "Yes Starfleet is getting good and making sure you are who you are, the understanding the subatomic differences from different universes.  Boluri will be fine coming out of this."

"Star Base Deep Space 6-Alpha, you must be looking forward to it being an official Star Base. You are going to draw far more attention now."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:09, Thu 22 Apr 2021.

"And congratulations to you and the Commodore on the formation of the Sector Task Force with you as the captain of the Flagship! That's a feather in your cap for a first starship command. Starfleet's finally recognising you for all your service, and about time," she positively gushes. "But with Boluri, I think it's more that they want to see just how he was resurrected than if he's some döppelganger. I'm hearing rumours already that Capt Myrissaw wants to poach him for the St. Roch."

She sighs and concludes, "Well, enough of the mutual admiration society. I've got to get back to DS-6A and oversee things. Ciao!"

The door swishes open and as she leaves Al MacCay passes her. "Ah, Capt Thelev, just the man I wanted to see. I'm afraid I just got word from Starfleet Command to report to Starbase 31 with my crew for reassignment. Seems the Genser is just coming out of its five-year refit cycle and is due for crew rotation. The entire crew has been reassigned to the old girl! With yours truly in command, of course! So, we're shipping out after Teri's ceremony for reorientation, but don't worry, we'll be back as part of Brad's new Bright Stars Cluster Sector Task Force. I always used to think of Starfleet as a sleeping elephant but it seems the elephant has grown a pair of Warp nacelles! Damn, it's hard to believe about Nogura."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:01, Fri 23 Apr 2021.

The United Federation of Planets Starfleet Chief-in-Command, Fleet Admiral William Smillie, recently appointed by President Ra-ghoratreii after the tragic passing of Fleet Admiral Heihachiro Nogura at age 95, has officially announced the return of the USS Odyssey NCC-2001 from a mission to test its new drive systems with an entire fleet of stranded ships and their crews. Reports have come in that as of Stardate 9115.75, the Odyssey returned to Starbase Deep Space Six-Alpha in the Bright Stars Cluster after a six-month shakedown cruise with what is increasingly being called the Rag Tag Fleet. The crews of the 60 ships in this rag tag fleet will undergo psychological and skill-based assessments, as well as security assessments. If they pass and are not able to be returned to their own universes, they may be offered positions in Starfleet and/or planetary fleets. This will be an intensive process conducted at the τ-Cygni Campus of Starfleet Academy which will be dedicated to this task for the foreseeable future. Students from the campus will be transferred to the Presidio Campus in San Francisco on Earth to finish their own Academy courses.

Following the successful test cruise, conducted along with the cooperation of the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Star Empire, the Odyssey will become the flagship of the newly formed Bright Stars Cluster Sector Task Force stationed out of Emerson's Planet and nearby Starbase Deep Space Six-Alpha under Commodore Bradron McCurrvey of Alpha Centuri and Captain Thelev of Andoria with Captain Khendron of Efros as First Officer.

The still-classified drive system, code-named Silver Ball, was developed by renowned Daystrom Labs' subsidiary Banzai Institute, based in Okinawa Prefecture in Japan, Earth.

In related news, Doctor Carol Marcus, creator of the failed Genesis Project and inventor of the spin-off Molecular Replicator Technology, reported missing in the Triangle in March, has resurfaced. It appears that she, as a consultant to Daystrom Labs, was also assigned to the Odyssey's shakedown, most likely because the Odyssey is the first major deployment of the Replicator on a starship.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:59, Sun 25 Apr 2021.

It's a quarter of one in the afternoon, old reckoning, and the hangar of DS6-A is vacant of all small craft. The deck and the central turntable have been polished and the lighting is focused on a large table elevated on the turntable. Light classical music plays over the speakers. At the table is Federation Commissioner Rosemary Kent, Sam, representing The Federation Council and the local government respectively, Brad, Thelev, Mercer and MacCay. The centre seat at the table is empty. In the audience are several of the rag tag fleet's captains including Dame Flavia and Raven Syrene, Purple, and many of the senior staff of DS6-A.

Commissioner Kent gives the signal and a lone trumpeter sounds the Starfleet fanfare [the opening notes from Star Trek, The Original Series] and the speakers come live. She begins, "We're here to celebrate a number of events, all coming together on a confluence of glory for us all, and for a new day in the Federation and the Kellinan Reach. It's been eight long years since the Federation and the Teldani signed the Emerson Accords, along with Governor James Emerson of Epsilon Zeta II, and Samuel Lowry of Bridgetown, to establish a pocket of Federation influence in the Kellinan Reach. And now, of course we need to defend our planets from the incursions of the Akasha and their remaining War-Arks for which purpose Starfleet has decided to create the Bright Stars Cluster Sector Task Force under the command of Commodore Bradron McCurvey and his flagship the USS Odyssey with its able Captain S. Thelev and his First Officer, Captain Khendron Mercer.

"And congratulations to Captain Alistair MacCay lately of the USS Genser and his crew, brought back from the dead—so to speak— and actually regaining command of his old ship as part of the Task Force.

"But most of all, your own Commander Teri Harris is embarking on a new phase of her career as Starfleet's latest captain. Commander Harris, approach the dais, please. Commodore McCurrvey, I turn this ceremony over to you as commanding officer of the Bright Stars Cluster Sector Task Force."

The assembled crowd breaks out in applause as the trumpeter repeats the Fanfare and the sound system plays the Starfleet March [the Theme from Star Trek, the Motion Picture], as Teri, in her freshly 3-D printed uniform makes her way to the dais.

Brad feels a little light-headed. This is the second time this year he's been in the spotlight, first overseeing his good friend Thelev's ascension to command, and now promoting a deserving officer in his new role as Sector C/O.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:43, Sat 24 Apr 2021.

In reply to Commissioner Rosemary Kent (msg # 7):

After watching the news Thelev thinks, so much about being low key in my first command. And so much about keeping the Silver Ball low key.  Guess that is what happens when we jump all over the place with other ships in tow.

At least he could look forward to their new mission as the flag ship in the Bright Stars Cluster Task Force. But right now he was looking forward to watching Commander Harris promotion ceremony to Captain.  He remembered both when he became Captain of Engineering and Captain of the Odyssey.

As Teri passes Thelev on her way to the podium where Kent and Brad await, she hands Thelev a small flat item, "Hold on to this for me and don't let me forget to give it to the Commodore."

Thelev looks at the item. It's a still-image holographic display, about 150mm by 100mm. It activates from the heat of his fingers and he sees an old image of Brad as a lieutenant seated at the helm of a starship. Brad is be about thirty in the image but looks a decade younger. Thelev tries to remember if he knew Brad at the time—it's certainly before Brad and Collette got married. He sits it on the table and directs his attention to Brad and Teri.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:38, Sat 24 Apr 2021.

In reply to Captain Theresa 'Teri' Harris (msg # 9):

Khendron finds all ceremonies quite boring, and passes the time thinking about how the official Federation News Network story aligns with reality. He always reads FNN stories with a healthy dose of skepticism, and now he has some personal experience in the matter.

[OOC: Updates and adjustments to the timeline and other administrivia, Part One.

I'm currently in the process of adjusting such things as Stardates and the like, as well as how the adventure fits into canon continuity. I'd chosen the 9211 stardate as the beginning of the Odyssey's mission by rationalising backwards from SD 9521.6 by 3 years, based on TNG's 1000 stardates = 1 Solar year. When adjusting that to produce the current stardate, it came out way too high, so I looked back at TWOK, where we had a stardate with a firm year: 8210.3 = 2285. 9520 - 8210 is 1310 stardates = 8 years, roughly speaking, or 164 stardates per year, rounded off. This means that rather than 9211.83 being the beginning stardate, it was actually 9011.26. Therefore, the current stardate, as of the promotion ceremony, is 9124.88.

Also, according to my chronology notes, which I hadn't checked, Collette proposed to Brad while Thelev and Khendron were MiA, but when we restarted the game, I gave Bruce the option of it being earlier with a daughter he chose to be age 16. This makes Star Trek, a Space Odyssey arguably an alternate timeline. I'm quite comfortable with this, as it ties in to the rebooted Relic campaign also being an alternate timeline. You'll all remember that toward the end of the H.Beam Piper campaign, they'd discovered a colliding alternate timeline at Dyson Base, but had not been able to track the divergence point to any more than a year earlier. This now moves that divergence date back to at least 2270, when Brad met Collette, which raises another question - did Collette wear "pajamas" to their first date? (Evil GM in-joke there...) For all intents and purposes, it doesn't make any in-continuity difference, but it does allow me to make some minor adjustments in established continuity, such as the exact time when the St. Roch gets thrown into the future, etc...

Also, I've replaced the image I was using for Matt Bowman, the deputy Science Officer. Previously I was using an image of Dmitri Valtane of the Excelsior, but since Valtane is to old looking, and I may need to involve the Excelsior in future adventures, I substituted an image of Bruce's favourite Elvis impersonator.]

This message was last edited by the GM at 17:58, Sun 25 Apr 2021.

[OOC: Updates and adjustments to the timeline and other administrivia, Part Two.

Some time ago, one of you asked how I handled stardates. When we were gaming in the 24th Century, it was easy, as the writing staff on Star Trek,the Next Generation had actually thought it out. They had defined 1000 stardates as one Solar year and had defined their season one as 2364. In Star Trek, the Original Series, it had been a much more amorphous concept. To quote Gene Roddenberry, "In the beginning, I invented the term "star date" simply to keep from tying ourselves down to 2265 A.D., or should it be 2312 A.D.? I wanted us well into the future but without arguing approximately which century this or that would have been invented or superseded. When we began making episodes, we would use a star date such as 2317 one week, and then a week later when we made the next episode we would move the star date up to 2942, and so on. Unfortunately, however, the episodes are not aired in the same order in which we filmed them. So we began to get complaints from the viewers, asking, 'How come one week the star date is 2891, the next week it's 2337, and then the week after it's 3414?'

"In answering these questions, I came up with the statement that 'this time system adjusts for shifts in relative time which occur due to the vessel's speed and space warp capability. It has little relationship to Earth's time as we know it. One hour aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise at different times may equal as little as three Earth hours. The star dates specified in the log entry must be computed against the speed of the vessel, the space warp, and its position within our galaxy, in order to give a meaningful reading.' Therefore star date would be one thing at one point in the galaxy and something else again at another point in the galaxy.

"I'm not quite sure what I meant by that explanation, but a lot of people have indicated it makes sense. If so, I've been lucky again, and I'd just as soon forget the whole thing before I'm asked any further questions about it."

A gobbledegook rationalisation if there ever was one, but classic Roddenberry. However, it did give the seeds of an idea. In the beginning, they were applied somewhat haphazardly, but progressed upward as a rule. By the time of the movie series, it became less scatter-shot. Mostly, this was the effect of stories being years apart or in clusters, and the numbers chosen reflected that.

I'd chosen the 9211 stardate as the beginning of the Odyssey's mission by rationalising backwards from SD 9521.6 by 3 years, based on TNG's 1000 stardates = 1 Solar year. When adjusting that to produce the current stardate, it came out way too high, so I looked back at TWOK, where we had a stardate with a firm year: 8210.3 = 2285. 9520 minus 8210 is 1310 stardates over 8 years, roughly speaking, or 164 stardates per year, rounded off. This means that rather than 9211.83 being the beginning stardate, it was actually 9011.26. Therefore, the current stardate, as of the promotion ceremony, is 9124.88.

So, after crunching the numbers, with only a tiny bit of tweaking to the canon numbers, I came up with: 1 year = 365.2425 = 8765.82 = 164 stardates, and 1 stardate = 53.45 hours = 2.3 days...

Year     Date        Time      Stardate      Incident                       Canon
2273                           7412.6        V'GER incident                 Star Trek, the Motion Picture
2278                           7818          USS Bozeman commissioned       TNG: Cause and Effect
2285     Feb. 19               8130.3        Genesis Incident               Wrath of Khan
2285                           8201.3        USS Excelsior commissioned     The Search for Spock
2286                           8390.0        The Whalesong Crisis           The Voyage Home
2287                           8425.0        USS Odyssey commissioned
2287     Jul. 15               8454.1        Thelev & Mercer MiA            The Final Frontier
2288                           8618.0        Thelev & Mercer rescued
2290     Mar. 07     12:45:00  9011.2        Thelev appointed C/O Odyssey
2290     Oct. 16     11:25:00  9115.8        Odyssey returns with alien fleet
2290     Oct. 17     12:45:00  9124.9        BSC Sector Task Force activated
2291     Jan. 01     00:00:00  9187.3        New Years Day, 2291
2293     Apr. 15     13:01:10  9521.6        Praxis explodes                The Undiscovered Country
2293                           9575.0        USS Enterprise-A decommissioned & recommissioned as USS Yorktown-A
2294                           9715.5        USS Enterprise-B commissioned  Generations prologue

There. Hope that's as clear as Mudd!
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:45, Sun 25 Apr 2021.

In reply to Odyssey GM (msg # 12):

OOC: Dear God, I am less concerned what the actual stardate is, and more concerned a) we have fun b) where we fit in time compared to the Star Trek universe.

a) I for one can say is true. b) your previous post tells us.  So in my Star Trek universe at least I am good.

Many thanks as always.

Thelev thinks back if he may have taught Brad since Thelev's first time as an instructor at StarFleet was about the time Brad was at Starfleet. But that would have had to be in a Structural/Space Frame course and since he was pretty junior himself he was likely teaching non-engineers who were taking the course. If he remembers correctly Brad's first Cadet Cruise was in Merchant Marine and by that time he would have been in Merchant Marine.  But chances is that if they were on the same ship a Cadet destined for command and a Lt (jr) in engineering (my 3rd assignment so guessing I was passed ensign) cross pass would have been over a game of poker if they were by some fluke assigned to the same ship.

OOC: Brad does have 1(2) in Structural/Space Frame and I am currently 2(6) in it so since that is a strength of mine I decided that was what I taught my first stint as an Academy instructor. And yes I know Poker and Brad does not so if he joined a game and he was on the same Merchant Marine ship it is more likely he remembers me for beating him than I would remember a cadet who I took some money from. And looking at timelines it looks like I was teaching when he went to the Academy and I had left and went to Merchant Marine by the time he would have done is first Cadet Crusie.

On the day after Teri Harris's promotion, Collette DesMarais organises a celebration of the Canadian Thanksgiving, eight days late for 2290. Harris, also Canadian, presides at the head table during the feast, which includes whole replicated roast turkeys with stuffing, cobs of corn, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, traditional for the holiday. As Sam Spaxter and Louella Goodbody have departed the Odyssey to take up residence on Bridgetown, Khendron strikes up a dalliance with Dame Flavia.

Over the next month, MacCay and his crew are dispatched to Federation space to pick up the Genser. They return two weeks later accompanying a flotilla of eight Sydney class passenger transports to take the crews of the Rag Tag Fleet to τ-Cygni for orientation. On October 31, at Kyra and Bellandra's instigation, the entire Rag Tag Fleet is introduced to the Earth celebration of Hallowe'en. The party is a big hit. It seems this is one of those traditions with parallels in many alternate universes.

The Genser and Arcadia leave on November 5th for the τ-Cygni Academy campus, escorting the convoy of transports. Khendron bids farewell to Dame Flavia. Captain Ahab's Spelljammer Pequod, having been confirmed as having originated in the same universe as Lord Dhark's Chateau d'Amber, enters a Silver Ball-generated conduit into the Hole to return home. Captain Ahab refuses an escort, given the reported political situation with Lord Dhark.

[OOC: Thelev's reminiscences sound great. Just the type of background info I love. The more obscure the better—just did some more tinkering with the Klingon language and it turns out that Silver Ball in Klingon is QujmeH moQ SIrlIy!

Of course, this message just lays out the broad strokes of what Starfleet does in October/November 2290 and should not replace the actual role-play of the events. Role-Playing is after all, the name of the game!]
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:39, Mon 26 Apr 2021.

According to some historians, the first celebration of Thanksgiving in North America occurred during the 1579 voyage of Martin Frobisher from England, in search of the Northwest Passage, as Spaniards conducted similar services in Spanish North America during the mid-16th century, decades before Frobisher's arrival. Years later, French settlers, having crossed the ocean and arrived in Canada with explorer Samuel de Champlain, from 1604 also held feasts of thanks. They formed the Order of Good Cheer and held feasts with their First Nations neighbours, at which food was shared. During and after the American Revolution, American refugees who remained loyal to Great Britain moved from the newly independent United States to Canada. They brought the customs and practices of the American Thanksgiving to Canada, such as the turkey, pumpkin, and squash.

At the Thanksgiving feast, Brad mulls over everything he has to be thankful for. His best friend is settling nicely into the centre chair, he's sharing a posting with his wife after so many years of her being stationed on Luna and likewise he's closer to Kyra than ever before, he's at the top of his career to date with the flag position in a sector command. Of course, not everything is perfect. Nogura, whom he'd respected highly, is gone; he's lost a crewman, something that always bothers him, and it seems that Dhark has used him as a scapegoat in some scheme against the Emperor of the Underdark. He's still a little dubious about Dworkin the Black and there's the case of Calista hanging over everything. The Orions, who had been instrumental in hammering out the Emerson Accords with Sam Lowry and James Emerson, have decided to make Prefect Ozakin their representative to Bridgetown, so while he'll be off the ship he'll always be lurking in the background. Luckily, he regards himself as being in debt to the Odyssey for saving his life and those of many of his crew. He looks at the holo Teri has gifted him of a very young Lieutenant McCurrvey from when she was an ensign and thinks, "Things were so simple back then..."

Thelev likewise has much to be thankful for. Unlike Brad, he's been able to serve with his wife for much of his career. He has an incredible family group, Thoma, Thanek, Vora and now Vethia. He's in command of the most advanced ship in the fleet and his best friend is in charge of the Task Force. "The Student is now the Master..." he muses. [OOC: I've checked the numbers, and since Thelev is 5 years older than Brad, his first year of being an Academy instructor coincides with Brad's Senior year at the Academy, so it all works out.] Again, there's the threat of Calista hanging over them.

Khendron is seated with Dame Flavia, who's telling him how much this Thanksgiving reminds her of the Ambarvalia, an agricultural fertility rite held in honor of the goddess of fertility and growth Dea Dia. Although he feel somewhat overshadowed by his friends, Brad and Thelev, he is a captain and the Executive officer of a huge honking ship, all while still retaining his duty as Science Officer, in charge of one of the most important (and now not so secret) scientific advancements since Genesis or Transwarp. Although both of those were dead ends, he's reminded of the Human superstition that "the third time's the charm." He's happy to be working with Smith again, but sometimes misses Wesson, who went back to its own universe—the Silver Ball giveth and the Silver Ball taketh away. He smiles at Flavia's banter. She's a beautiful, energetic, inventive lover, in many ways as much like an Efrosian as any Human woman he's ever met.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:50, Tue 27 Apr 2021.

In reply to Odyssey GM (msg # 15):

Thelev decides even though the background of this Earth holiday seems a bit strange at times, he can understand why people want to be thankful.

And Thelev is, a great ship he is able to serve on so many ships with Thoma, especially now that he is the captain of the Odyssey, and even more so that their daughter is with them.

"Thoma, we are so lucky that we are able to serve in Star Fleet together and have Vethia here with us.  I look at Brad and Collette and think how much of their career they have been apart and I am so thankful we have been able to be together."

In reply to Captain Thelev (msg # 16):

At sometime during the evening's celebrations, Khendron find himself in conversation with Brad and Thelev, with Dame Flavia on his arm. He raises his glass. "Alls well that ends well, as they say on many planets and in many dimensions."

Khendron leans in closer and adds quietly "Nows about the time something throws a wrench into all our well being. I wouldn't be surprised if this time next week finds us under red alert on the other side of the galaxy.

"But, " he continues, "there is nothing quite like living in the moment. Flavia, my dear, shall we go rustle up some dessert?"

Flavia gives a low throaty chuckle. "You're all the dessert I need, Khendron m'dear," she says playfully. This is a side of her that Brad and Thelev have never seen.

"But on the other hand, that chocolate cheesecake smells wonderful..." she says, leading Khendron to the dessert table.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 18:57, Tue 04 May 2021.

Teri Harris overhears Khendron's "All's well that ends well" speech and says, "'It ain't over 'til it's over,' or so says Yogi Bear. We still have to catch that bitch Calista, and we have no idea of the capabilities of her magic ship!" She's not drunk, precisely, but she's had more than a little rum and her Newfoundland accent is more prominent than usual.

The day after the Thanksgiving festival, LCdr Boren convenes an intelligence briefing. Attending are command representatives from the various ships in-system, including Al MacCay, C/O designate of the Genser; Teri Harris, C/O DS6A; David Bowman C/O Excalibur-A; Anne Potrikos, C/O Discovery; Captain Haarlech, C/O Arcadia; Captain Jason Culver, C/O USS Fife, a Chandley class frigate newly arrived in-system; all their Intelligence Officers; Commissioner Rosemary Kent and her Sector Chief of Intelligence, Agent Paul Knox. Also attending via subspace radio are Captain Myrissaw, C/O St Roch, and Vice Admiral Mercedes Hernandez, Judge Advocate-General for Special Operations. This is the JAG's overseer of clandestine missions. Normally, she would not be involved in an antipiracy mission, but nothing seems normal about this meeting.

Hernandez is a heavyset woman in her mid-sixties with a head of iron-grey hair and an equally iron-like expression of her face. "Ladies and Gentlemen," she begins, "This briefing is classified. Operation Hellfire is hereby established as a multijurisdictional mission incorporating Starfleet Command, Starfleet Intelligence, the Department of Temporal Investigations, The Orion Frontier Mercantile Association and the Romulan Tal Dian.

"Commander Boren, please introduce your additional personnel."

Boren stands at the podium and begins, "We've been burning up the subspace frequencies and the following people have been approved for Operation Hellfire.

"Centurion Tevan of the Romulan Tal Dian is well acquainted with Calista the Damned and most of the crew of the Armida IV, having been a deep-cover agent in the ship's crew.

"Next, Bellandra ferch Jaime was Calista's captive for three years. For the last few days, she has been seeing the ship's psychologist, Lieutenant Carleton Smith, dealing with her adjustment to her new-found freedom and assessing her for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She is a minor child, so she is being placed on the Odyssey's manifest as a ward of the state, and will be under the care of Miss Jordan Stone, a civilian Human/Betazoid teacher.

"Prefect Tural Ozakin of the Orion Frontier Mercantile Association represents the interests of the Lifaq family of the Orion world of Workday, where Calista did several billion dejebbits damage to the orbital shipyards."

"Excuse me," asks Commissioner Kent. "You say Ms. ferch Jaime is a minor child. How old is she? Have you been able to contact her parents?"

Tevan replies, "She is sixteen Terran years old and quite mature for her age, as Humans go."

Boren elaborates, "Bellandra ferch Jaime, born March 10 2274 on Hastings, Fomalhaut IV to Melisandre ferch Gwyddion, occupation - dancer; father not listed. Melisandre confirmed among the dead on the starliner Singing Star in the Triangle on or about August 5 2287. All hands and passengers listed as lost in pirate attack. Bellandra's body was not found and she was declared dead by statute."

[OOC: Note to Bruce - yes, I've added a lot of new background NPCs. No, you don't need to keep track of all of them - that's my job. It's like a movie—you need to know the heroes and the main villains, but the rest are extras in the background.]
This message was last edited by the player at 01:51, Sun 16 May 2021.

In reply to Lieutenant Commander Bryan W. Boren (msg # 20):

OOC: I assume we are there as well. And second is HoD Kang here.

[OOC: Well, I did say representatives from the various ships in-system are there. That includes the Odyssey. Only Starfleet officers are cleared to attend, so Kang isn't there. He's aware that the meeting is happening, but will be briefed later, along with Centurion Tevan. Both of them will of course report back up their respective chains of command. While peace talks are ongoing with the Klingon Empire, the Alliance won't happen for half a century, following the Enterprise-C's destruction defending Narendra III in 2344; and the Intrepid's rescue of Klingon survivors of the Romulan attack on Khitomer in 2246.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:02, Fri 07 May 2021.

The door to the washroom opens and a diminutive character walks in. He's wearing black trousers, a snow-white shirt and black waistcoat with a satin back panel, a blood-red necktie in a Windsor knot and red velvet sleeve garters. He's humanoid, of extreme age, barely a metre and a quarter tall. He has pale skin, a bushy white beard with a bald scalp and piercing ice-blue eyes. He is clutching a walking stick with a silver skull topper.

"Perhaps I may be of some help," he says drily. "My name is Dworkin. I have some expertise in these matters."

Boren slaps a touch panel on the table before him. "Intruder alert! Security to the flag briefing room!" There is no response and the alert klaxon is silent.

Dworkin smiles. "Observe the chronometre, ladies and gentlemen." The time readout over the wallscreen is stationary, reading 13:15:26, and the faces on the screen are still. "I've suspended the passage of time. I assure you, I mean you no harm. Bradron, I realise that things have been hectic as of late, but have you given my calling cards to Thelev and Khendron?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:58, Tue 11 May 2021.

In reply to Dworkin the Black (msg # 23):

Thelev signals to everyone in the room to remain seated or once again to take their seats and turns to our guest. "I do not believe we have been introduced. And you make think having the ability to pause time is impressive, I can assure you it is not impressing any of us."

As Thelev stands and take a step around the table "And you may have talked to Commodore McCurrvey but this is my ship, so I would appreciate if you allowed time and communications to return to normal. This is a Starfleet Command hosted meeting so if you believe you have something offer this meeting, I ask you to introduce yourself and let us know what you can offer us and then we can determine if you can stay."

Dworkin chuckles and says, "Ah, not easily impressed, are we? I like that. Well," he snaps his fingers and the milky purple stone on his ring finger flashes blue. "Tempus fugit," he says in Latin. The chronometre reads 13:15:27, 13:15:28, 13:15:29 and so on...

On the screen VAdm Hernandez blinks as she realises that another person has just appeared on her screen. "Cdore McCurrvey, who is this person? Is he cleared for this meeting?"

Boren says, "My question exactly! I gather you know him, Commodore?" He raises a type I phaser and levels it at Dworkin.

Dworkin raises an eyebrow, "But you, Commander, seem easily flustered. Yes, he knows me, and I know you, LCdr Boren. Yes, I'm read in on Operation Hellfire, code word Chaos."

Boren lowers his phaser and replies, "Countersign Amber."

Hernandez sighs and says, "Well, if Special Projects is involved. Welcome, Mister..." she raises an eyebrow questioningly.

"Dworkin, Admiral," replies the little man, bowing at the screen. "Investigator at large Dworkin Barimen at your service, ma'am."

Brad, Thelev and Khendron have all heard of the Special Projects Section of Starfleet Intelligence. It was one of the loyalist factions in the Intelligence War.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:35, Mon 21 June 2021.

In reply to Dworkin the Black (msg # 25):

"I got your card, thank you for providing me with an uninfected one," says Khendron with cold sarcasm. "If you think you can help us, then state your case. Without any distracting theatrics, please."

Khendron actually believes that this Dworkin can be of assistance, but he could do without his unpredictable antics.

The little man puts his hand to his chest with a pseudo-puzzled look on his face. "Moi? Theatrical? But, good sir, did not the Bard say, 'All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players'? My dear Khendron, the card was not infected as you put it. Mere machines with a single task and a destruct function immediately thereafter. One must observe technological hygiene, after all! A logical outgrowth of your Prime Directive, as it were."

He steps to the replicator and orders, "Bushmills." A glass of amber liquid with a single ice cube shimmers into existence. He sits on the nearest vacant chair and takes a sip. "Ah, that does hit the spot. Now to business. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you were just discussing Calista's young captive and her immediate future. You are aware that she was being groomed by Calista for a vile destiny? Yes, of course you are, and you were concerned that her finding this out would cause her irreparable psychological harm, yes? There is no need to worry there, my friends. You vastly underestimate the young miss. She put two and two together almost a year ago and has been waiting all this time for an opportunity to escape durance vile.

For those among you who are not aware, Ms. ferch Jaime was being saved, if such an inapproriate term may be said to apply, until she reached maturity; then to be sacrificed to the Verlegg. This meant of course, that Calista must needs preserve her virgo intacta until such ritual, therefore she'd been kept safe from the predations of Morgh, Jasmine, Jade and the rest of the motley crew. Your security crew relieved her of a silver dagger." An image of a particularly nasty weapon appears in a window on the viewer.

"Known on Earth as a Tibetan Phurba, on Andor as a Takatan, a katrafal on Vulcan and as a yabtaj or 'Dagger of the Mind' in thlIngan Hol. [Dworkin says the Klingon name in fluent Hol with no discernable accent]

"100% pure Sterling silver, though it's heavily tarnished and stained with—well, never mind—it's specifically designed to kill life forms the likes of the Verlegg. Bellandra would have concealed it until the last moment and plunge it into the dæmon's eye, ah, socket."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:20, Thu 13 May 2021.

In reply to Dworkin the Black (msg # 27):

"My dear sir, you have a lot of confidence in a 16 year old young lady that she would be able to catch Verlegg off guard and drive the Takatan into his eye socket. From what I have seen she is an incredible young lady for her age, but Verlegg is a powerful being.  May I ask what makes you so confident that she would have been successful." Thelev asks.

"Secondly if she has only been aware of her purpose for only a year, I doubt that she has been able to obtain a Takatan on her on and even know that it would help her kill Verlegg, so that must mean someone else within Calista crew was helping her out." he adds.

"So full disclosure here would help, no games, no clever play on words, but a clear concise briefing.  And remember we can either clear the room of anyone without the proper clearance or have them temporarily given the proper clearance for them to stay and hear." as he points to the screen. Of course he knows basically everyone current here are either ship captains, intelligent officers or have a significant Selcar level.