Senior Staff Meeting.

Posted on Fri Aug 14th, 2015 @ 7:36am by Captain Jacob Lambert & Lieutenant Commander Jaca Traylor & Commander Aztala Germond & Lieutenant Colonel Elena Wright & Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Matthews & Major Larissa Chusavitna & Lieutenant Walter Roebuck
Edited on on Fri Aug 14th, 2015 @ 7:42am

2,601 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 4 - Parallels
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: Day 1 - 1255

Jacob was worried. "You are sure Commander Traylor?"

"Yes, communications channels are being flooded with thousands of signals. In essence communication between Starfleet Ships and DS11 are down. Nothing can get through. It is as Vadosia feared. It's begun." Jaca replied.

"Lambert to the senior staff. Report to my ready room immediately. Lambert out." He sat at his desk, looking around. There were enough chairs, Jaca would have to stand, which didn't seem to be an issue for him.

"Not the conference room?"

"No, I have security protocols already in place here. Can you scan them once they are inside?" Jacob asked.

"Obviously I have already scanned you, Colonel Wright and Commander Germond. I will wait until everyone is inside, and the security protocols are activated. You have a phaser in your desk?" The Captain nodded to Jaca. "Keep it ready, just in case."

Jenni stepped in a turbolift the moment the order came through. She'd been waiting as patiently as possible for some sort of explanation. Perhaps this was finally it. The turbolift arrived, and she crossed the bridge and entered the ready room. Jenni was surprised to learn she was among the first to arrive. "Captain," she greeted with a nod, followed by a friendly, "Commander" to the stranger near him.

Roebuck soon arrived. He looked at the people already in the room, and noted the serious expression on the Captain’s face. He had only recently met the man, but he had a feeling something was wrong. Roebuck took a position near to the door. “Captain.” He said with a slight nod.

Elena was well aware of what the sudden call for a meeting meant most likely and it was a moment she had been dreading. While she was already on the bridge when Jacob made the order she opted to join them later on as she wanted to observe the immediate responses from the bridge crew first. After a few minutes she would enter the Ready Room.

Larissa heard the call for All Senior Staff to report to the Ready Room. Bah she thought as she was working on her crew fitness reports. She hadn't had the chance to go over it fully yet and it was trying, when she was called away from her work. "Computer send fitness reports on Marines the terminal in my quarters. " It beeped confirmation "I will deal with this later after I find out what the Captain wants" She headed off to the ready room for the meeting or whatever else it was. She was not pleased as she thought she would have a chance to really get to work.

Aztala Germond wasn't far behind, having finally healed enough to forego the cane finally, having traded it off for a PaDD. She wasn't too happy about everyone being shoehorned into the small office like this, but she made the best of it as she silently headed towards one of the back corners.

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Tags Anyone arriving write /\ here.
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With everyone squashed into the ready room Jacob held up his hand just as someone was about to speak. "Computer, activate security protocol Lambert 47." Bulkheads were sealed, force fields were activated. The confusion in the room was evident. No one quite knew what was going on. "Commander," He gestured to the Betazoid in the room that no one knew. His hand firmly on his concealed phaser he continued. "You may begin."

Jaca looked to the room, before concentrating on on officer at a time.

Jenni frowned, hearing the forcefield energize and the locks take hold. She certainly was not aware of the meaning of all of this, but in all her years of service, this was the most out-of-sorts meeting she'd ever experienced. "What's going on?" she asked out of turn, looking to the Lieutenant Commander at the front of the room, then to the ship's captain she'd met just a couple hours ago.

Walt went into defensive mode. He wasn't sure if this was the SOP for this vessel or not, but judging by the looks of confusion on the other people's faces, it wasn't. He was armed with a Type-Ie phaser hidden inside a small pocket, but in such close quarters he might not have time to reach for it. He looked around the room again, making mental notes of each person, their species, position, posture, etc. While doing this, another thought crossed his mind, and he couldn't help but be a little unhappy that with an obvious security situation, the Captain hadn't made him, the Chief of Security, award of the situation. New to the ship or not, he should have been aware.

Larissa snapped around quickly getting into guard and getting ready to strike when and where she needed, "Captain what the Frag is going on here?"

Jacob held up his hand, to Larissa. "I will explain in a moment." The Betazoid man looked to Jacob and shook his head. "You are sure?" Jacob asked?

"Yes, as sure as I can be. No one here is an agent." The man replied.

Jacob put his phaser on his desk. Still within reach, but far enough away to relax the mood somewhat. "Commander, you have the floor." He gestured to the mysterious man, who replied with a curt nod.

"I am Commander Jaca Traylor. I am the aide to Rear Admiral Adislo. At approximately 0758, New Bajor time, a subspace communication signal was broadcast on every channel, every frequency. It said 3 words. Pity is treason. Effectively every Federation ship and colony in the Gamma Quadrant is cut off from each other, except for close range, non subspace transmissions." He looked to Jacob, who nodded, indicating he wanted him to continue. "We have known for a while that there was a cancer within Starfleet. As it turns out, several high ranking officials have been telepathically co-opted into joining this group. For the officers and crews under their command, they are just following orders. The group is known as the Consortium. They are within Starfleet. It is not known exactly how many potential agents there are. The scan I just performed on all of you would have triggered a programming that would have made you violent, and try to escape. The saying 'pity is treason' is the activation trigger. Which is why it is being flooded on all the channels." He stopped for a moment, the shocked look on all the officers faces evident, with the exceptions of Colonel Wright and Commander Germond.

"How... is this even possible?" Jenni stammered, her eyes moving back and forth between this unknown face before them all and the once-concealed phaser sitting on the desk. "Just how high does this even go?"

"Quote honestly," Jacob paused. "We don't know. All we know is that as of 0758 communications ceased. This was the sign we were waiting for, to begin."

"And the assumption we have to operate under is that the entire chain of command on top of us, with the exception of the Admiral, could be compromised or worse at this point." Elena continued.

Jacob nodded at Elena's remarks. "For all intents and purposes, we are essentially cut off from all other Starfleet assets. And communication with non-Starfleet or Federation is sketchy at best. Besides that, even if we did get in touch with another ship, there is no telling who might be in command." He breathed in deeply, almost meditatively. "I know this is alot to take in, but are there any questions?"

Larissa left her anger seeth at the violation of her thoughts and emotions. How could they question her who has proven loyalty time and again to the Federation the Marines and to her fellow officers. She tried to force the thoughts from her head and think strategically but in some ways she felt like she had been raped. She stood up and prepared to leave the room but realized that could be seen bad. She thought about snapping the Betazoids neck for scanning without her consent. "Captain I must protest this treatment. It is not likely that any of us would have been planted. In fact how could they have gotten to some of us? Aren't they only in this sector this organization?" She was frustrated and still wanted to do something violent and would as soon as she was away from his meeting. It would be time for the holodeck and a full workout regiment with full combat.

Jacob looked at Larissa. "Your protest is noted, but this was necessary. The Consortium use telepaths," A quick glance at Commander Traylor, who nodded in agreement. "To turn some people. Thats why we had to check everyone in this room. You may have been an agent and not known it, until you head the phrase 'pity is treason'. Given than no one in this room has tried to attack myself or the Commander here, it is my understanding that no one in this room is a Consortium agent."

Jaca, again, nodded in agreement. "I am sorry I had to do it, but I am not sorry for the reason I did it. The agents are everywhere. Admiral Adislo knew this. Thats why he has strategically been placing Vulcans and Betazoids among command staffs of certain vessels, including his own senior staff. I am a Betazoid, and his yeoman is a Vulcan. Neither of these races can be turned with telepathy. The Consortium are quite literally everywhere Major. Those that are not agents are following orders. Those who are loyal to Starfleet and not agents are being branded as traitors by those who are. They know no different."

Jenni also didn't appreciate having her thoughts invaded, however necessary the procedure had been. "So, what now?" she said, letting her thoughts become verbal. "If Starfleet is compromised, we're surely going to do something about it. Right?"

Larissa looked directly at Jaca putting emotion in to her mind of anger and of violence. She knew she should take the high ground but this was something she could do as the protest wasn't going to do much good. "I suggest not doing it again as I won't be so nice the next time" she said and turned to look at the Captain

Jaca looked directly at Larissa, placing his hand on his, near his weapon holster. "Major, please remember you are talking to a superior officer. You were scanned to make sure you were not a Consortium agent. If you are, or were rather, I would simply have fired my weapon on you. You are still standing, for now, so unless you want this to escalate, stand down. You will not be scanned again, not because I fear your reprisal, but because I have determined you are not a threat to this crew."

Jacob stood from his desk, staying within reach of his phaser. "Enough, the both of you. This threat could be the greatest threat to Starfleet, and the Federation, since the Dominion. We cant let our fear of this unknown cloud our minds. There is simply too much at stake right now. You now know what you all need to know. Commander, what can be done now, by the crew."

"All of this information can not leave this room. The crew will be scanned, but it is a slow process. I will need a list of all Betazoid's and Vulcan's you have on board. They can assist me, as they are somewhat immune to the telepathic programming. I will obviously start with the bridge officers. They cant know what is going on. Questions?" Jaca asked the now nervous looking room.

"Captain," Walt said as he slowly stood, "permission to put the ship on Yellow alert and enact Security Protocols?"

Commander Traylor interrupted, before Jacob could speak. "Apologies Captain, but no. You may enact very limited security protocols, but there may still be agents on board. We have no way of knowing. So going to yellow alert after rendezvousing with myself will raise red flags." he looked to the Captain who was nodding in agreement.

Walt looked at Traylor, then to his new Captain, before looking back at Traylor. "Aye sir", he paused then added, "I'll advise the Security Personnel that this is a drill, their new Department Head wanting to see how they operate. It should help to keep suspicions low."

Jacob nodded again. "Agreed. Anyone else?" He asked the room.

"And what happens if there is an agent on board?" Jenni asked, her mind instantly thinking of the countless systems an individual had access to within a single moment. A single person couldn't fight off a security team, but they could cause a large amount of sabotage, even to the point of the ship's destruction, if given the opportunity.

"Hopefully they wont be tipped off. As the Commander said, we will be trying to scan as many people as we can. I have already restricted access to certain subroutines and systems, and nobody noticed so far." Jacob answered.

Larissa just looked at this she knew that with the Senior staff aware that it was potentially easy to get out especially with a small slip of the tongue "Sir while I object to the scanning of myself I think you could have a mutiny as well if the crew find out that they are being scanned for what amounts to their loyalty. I think we should approach this differently surely there are clues to observing people without having to be invasive?"

"Its not their loyalty. They may not even know they are agents." Jacob replied. "But I see your point. Are there any other ways to tell an agent without scanning them?" He asked Jaca.

"There are some tells, but they are so minuscule, that's why we resorted to scanning. Some of the agents forget little details here and there, but only for a moment or two. It seems the telepathic programming actually helps them remember things." He looked to Larissa. "For example I could tell you my name. A minute or two later you would forget it, but within a few seconds you would remember it. Its almost like the brain is a memory file lost in a computer. This virus programming loses track of it for a few seconds then eventually recalls it. Scanning is the only 100% accurate way. Some people may come across as agents by forgetting the details, or it could just be a momentary blip in their brains, that happen to everyone." He paused for a moment looking around the room deep in thought. "A compromise then. What if we don't scan people, but give them a series of tests, so to speak. It can be part of a random test we get sent from HQ. I can write it up using the Admirals name. I have complete autonomy here. Those that fail this 'test' can then be scanned, subtly of course."

Larissa nodded seeing that this might be the only compromise "While I don't like the idea of scanning the people without their knowledge which is my main complaint with this I think this is the only way that we will ever be able to make it fair. If you had asked for permission to scan us then you wouldn't have gotten an argument from me about it."

Jacob nodded. "I can appreciate that Major. But for the senior staff at least, I didn't have the luxury that you would know the scan is coming. If there are no further questions?" He looked around the room, to the faces which looked slightly worried. He tapped a command to disable the security measures. "Dismissed."

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