Into the Unknown - Part IV

Posted on Sun Apr 6th, 2025 @ 4:53pm by Lieutenant Fang Lee & Lieutenant Commander Kelly Kerrigan & Lieutenant Commander Oscar McDonald MD & Lieutenant Adrianna Baciami & Lieutenant Lanna Alexander & Ensign Karri

1,912 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Stars Around the Well
Location: USS Arcadia | Briefing Room
Timeline: Current

ON:

Fang was the first to arrive in the briefing room. Each department had an update and he had all the reports in hand. Now they would set together discuss it all and figure out the next steps. Kerrigan had called the meeting but Fang liked getting there early to acclimate to the room. He also needed a moment. He'd been working non stop and he was exhausted.

Zai's injury had thrown him more then he liked to admit and even though it was fixed as best as can be and he should have been resting Zai had pushed through and Sabastian had been there too so Fang needed a moment to just get his mind in order. He was confused and exhausted so he needed to guard his mouth during the briefing because when tired, hangry, and anxious it was not a good mix for the filter in his mind.

Whilst Adrianna had not been physically busy, she still felt like she smelled of an ashtray and felt dead on her feet. Her mind struggled to remain active having not seen her bed in a while and trying to help as best she could from the bridge. She stepped in, desperate for caffeine, but resisting knowing that it hardly counted as an emergency. She saw Fang and offered a smile, "how is Zai?"

"Awake, alert, has a concussion...but he'll be here soon. Just finishing up a few things. Stubborn won't rest and that idiot Sabastian is of no help in making him rest." He studied Adrianna. "How are you doing?"

"If it's that bad, it will bite him in the ass and he can learn from it," Adrianna nodded her understanding, evidently not in the mood to be polite, "as me, I appreciate that I've only been on the bridge but I'm ready for bed."

"Is this briefing really necessary?" Doctor McDonald grumbled as he entered, "it isn't as if we have our hands full dealing with all the injuries. Medical is busy, I am busy... there is not much more I can say..."

With that he sank into a chair, clearly exhausted as he ran a hand through his already disheveled hair.

Fang sighed and poured the doctor a cup of coffee. "Here you go doc. It is necessary we got some information and we may need your advice."

Just then Sabastian and Zai walked in, Zai had a big bandage on his head, his eyes somewhat unfocused. He saw the doc. "I'm okay doc...just a bump on the engine ... head..."

Fang sighed and gave Sabastian a glare. Zai should be resting. He stood. "We'll give everyone another minute if you are hungry there are snacks at the back we all need to keep our strength up."

Karri stretched her arm a little bit. She still woke herself up. Looking at supplies kind of made her feel sleepy. "Hello everyone." she said with a yawn as she took a seat.

Lanna stepped through the doors of the briefing room, between helping out in medical and comforting those who’d felt the need to talk she’d been kept busy. She offered a polite smile to all as she took a seat.

Lieutenant Commander Kerrigan sat at the head of the table, a concerned expression on his face. They were in a bad situation. He looked at Fang, a flicker of support or hope, clinging onto whatever he could. "Alright. So, this is where we are. What do we have?"

The staff was now all gathered around the table. "Before we fully begin with what's out there let's get an idea about what's going on in here." Fang looked over to Zai.

"Engineering has managed to get critical systems online, We'll be back to full power in two hours. Engines...." He rubbed his forehead while searching for the words.

Sabastian, who'd been helping in Engineering, reached over and placed a hand on Zai's. "Engines are still offline but we have maneuvering thrusters. Full sensors are back on line and navigation will need to be on manual. Doc Sickbay will be fully running in about twenty minutes. Vance is heading Medical systems."

"Comms is down," Adrianna shrugged, "internal Comms is patchy but usable. All of my department has been shifted to help where they can. I'm working on trying to get Comms a bit more stable internally so that we can at least have something to try and help during this time."

“We are continuing to triage those injured during our little adventure getting here, bumps bruises and a few broken bones mostly, but we have seven in serious condition and limited resources until the medical bay is fully up and running,” McDonald reported, making a face as he sipped the coffee which was far from pleasant. “I need to start letting people sleep, or we will see mistakes. And once we have the medical bay back, I want to follow up with those who were perhaps discharged prematurely.”

His gaze turned towards Zai for a moment, his disapproval evident. Not so much aimed at the lieutenant - more so at the idea one of his team has allowed him out of their care knowing how stubbornly stupid engineers could be.

“Once engineering is done and we have run a decontamination sweep, we will transfer patients to the medical bay, and keep using the cargo bay for triage,” he added before forcing down another mouthful of coffee.

Adrianna looked at the doctor and raised an eyebrow. She'd yet to taste the ration pack coffee but looking at Macdonald's reaction, she was bout to be a world of disappointment.

“The Counselling department, or should I say, I have been kept busy helping out in medical Sir. Some of the crew have taken the opportunity to avail themselves of my expertise given our situation. People are naturally worried and afraid.” Lanna paused. “On a more personal note I’m a little foggy where my senses are concerned, whatever it was that when we arrived here has overloaded me a somewhat. It should sort itself out.”

Fang gave a nod. "Lanna give yourself time to rest your senses." He turned to the science department and Security. "What about you two?"

Fang listened to the Science officer and sighed. "Let's get our ship in as good a condition as we can then we can talk about the information we have so far. Since the limited sensors have indicated debris all around us and we've got shuttles I would suggest we prepare a landing crew in two days time to head out. Two teams a search for life while the ship is getting fixed." He looked at the department heads. "Each of you select a team member in some cases, like medical, one on each away team. I'll work up a list and we'll meet tomorrow to go over things."

He raised eyebrow and waited for all to confirm that they understood. He knew they would not be happy but if there was a chance of saving someone out there they had to take it.

"I appreciate that there are lives at stake and that time is critical," Adrianna nodded in agreement, "but I have to agree with the doctor. This ship needs a moment to breathe or else mistakes will be made. The majority of people in this room, for instance, have now been awake for just over 24 hours or are recovering. We cannot, surely, help people before we help ourselves?" She paused and looked back at the ‘coffee' the doctor had, "either way, man cannot live on coffee alone and if that coffee is as bad as I think it is, even I'll need help forming sentences in Standard."

McDonald peered across at one of his few friends aboard, an eyebrow raised as he queried, “how bad do you think it tastes?”

"Somewhere between mud and dust," Adrianna queried

“Worse than that,” he warned.

"Betazoid decaf coffee mixed with more mud for good measure?" Adrianna asked

“Sounds about right…” the physician conceded.

"Si," she looked back at Fang, "we will need time to breathe before we are to go out and try to help others. If we go to help others in this condition with whatever merde passes for coffee in ration packs, mistakes are going to be made and we will be the ones awaiting Fleet rescue."

Fang smiled. "Beggars can't be choosers in terms of coffee taste but I agree you need rest so get your department in order we're leaving in two days. I want two members from each department each department head will put forth two names."

"Well, for what it's worth." The caitian supply officer said, raising her arm. "I'm going to volunteer. "

"Same," Adrianna nodded, "as long as I can sleep. If we do rescue people, they may not necessarily be speaking Standard. Be nice to use old skills again from being in intel."

Fang smiled. "Good to know. I'll put both your names there." He looked at both the supply officer and the coms officer. "Thanks to you both then." He sighed. He looked at Kelly now to end the meeting.

"No" said Kelly firmly. He had let Fang have control of the narrative of this meeting of the Senior Staff, but Kerrigan and Fang Lee were not in agreement and Kelly had just let that be known.

"We are tired. We are beaten, we are wounded. We were sent out here to investigate what happened to this cargo convoy, and I believe we've collected enough circumstantial evidence to present the Federation Council if need be. Space is not without its dangers. These men and women met those dangers and were destroyed by what brought us here" Kelly said.

He shook his head and placed his head down into his hands for a moment. Then returned his concentration to those around the table. "Fang, we are concentrating on ship repairs and getting the hell out of here. No, I am not turning a blind eye to the potential distress signal."

Kerrigan clarified. "Fang, you'll take a shuttle with Doctor McDonald, Lieutenant Baciami, and Counselor Alexander. Search debris, if you find any ships intact, board them look for survivors. If you find any transmit coordinates and the Arcadia will pick them up, but our primary goal right now should be getting out of here."

Adrianna looked between the pair. The captain had a point, but she was surprised by it all. Brought her back to her undercover days-- specifically when they found the children on board a freighter whilst trying to survive. She paused, having an idea, "may it be worth taking a few engineers with us. Scavenge parts if we need to?"

Fang nodded. "Agreed." He turned to Zai. "I want Vance and Walker since you pretend to be an Engineer on that station you as well. Doctor McDonald, Baciami, Walker, Alexander meet me in the shuttle bay in three hours." He turned to the supply officer. "I have a huge job for you. Work with the departments to see what parts are needed that we don't have and I will see if we can scavenge them along the way."

Kerrigan ended the meeting with a few more words of encouragement and the group broke, knowing where they were going now. Fang knew Kerrigan was right they needed to get out of here before it was too late and they were trapped forever.

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