Post 28

Posted on Sat Feb 28th, 2015 @ 12:20pm by Captain Christina Curtis & Doctor Maya

Mission: Begin with a Bang
Location: Port-side Forward Armoury, F-Deck, Discovery NX-04, Deep Space
Timeline: May 15th, 2155 - 0915 hours

By the time Christina had dried, thrown on her uniform pants, boots and undershirt and rushed down to F-deck, the damage control teams had already cleared the armoury as fit to enter. The door stood open, and the captain could hear frantic action inside as she pulled the upper portion of her uniform jumpsuit up over her shoulders and zipped it up. She stepped over the door frame and stopped at the sight before her.

The wall panels on the port side of the room were scorched; clearly the source of the explosion. A number of engineers were clustered around it, trying to make sure that there were no other explosives within and trying to remove the damaged components. On the steps leading to the main control console - which showed a number of warnings across it - sat Ensign Wilson, the left arm of his uniform scorched, with small burns on his hand being treated by Crewman Ribbons.

On the floor, near the centre of the room, lay the prone form of one other individual. Curtis could only see the lower legs and the boots amongst the bodies surrounding the officer, but from those alone should could determine that the officer was most likely male. By the absence of his presiding presence over what was happening in the armoury, Christina knew it instantly to be Commander Cayne. Doctor Maya was one of those crowding around him.

"Doctor..?" Christina couldn't quite form the rest of her question, but from the tone it was clear she was asking about the state of her first officer.

There was a hesitation before the little Vulcan rose to her feet and turned to answer her. Her large hazel eyes were narrowed as if she was frowning. "My apologies Captain, but your first officer is dead," she reported quietly. "A splinter pierced his jugular vein, causing him to bleed out before I arrived."

Christina reached a hand up to her mouth in disbelief and shock. Barely out of spacedock, and already she had lost someone - a member of the crew whom it was her responsibility to protect. She knew that she couldn't allow the crew to see her in any sort of disarray now; they needed to see someone who was decisive; someone who would look to make sure that the same didn't happen to any of them. She turned towards the engineers by the wall panel. "What happened? Faulty component? EPS surge?"

"There was a small device affixed to the port-side proximity sensors," the head of the damage control team said, stepping over to the captain. "The yield was pretty low, so the damage to the systems is comparatively minor; there's a chance the device wasn't constructed properly. The explosion was powerful enough to take out most of the systems behind this panel... and of course the commander."

An explosive. That meant that this was deliberate. Someone had planted it there. Perhaps not specifically to kill Dewitt, but certainly to cripple the ship's targeting sensors. It also led to the possibility of there being more aboard. "Have every system on this ship checked and double checked. I want no more surprises waiting to cripple us or harm any of the crew. We hold station here until we are certain."

"Yes, Captain," the engineer replied, before turning back to his work.

"Captain at this point I'd like to point out that it is unlikely that an improvised explosive device such as this could have been planted before we left drydock. Yesterday during our meal Commander Cayne informed us that he had just realigned the proximity sensors and was going to conduct weapon tests today. If the explosive was installed before we left Earth it would have been discovered earlier."

Curtis hoped that the doctor was wrong. Perhaps news of their mission had leaked, and a supporter of Terra Prime had been able to get aboard during the chaos leading up to their rushed launch. Security onboard hadn't exactly been the tightest it could have. But she knew that she couldn't afford to leave it at that. She stepped over towards the comm panel on the wall. "Curtis to Carpegiani." She paused as she considered the phrasing of her next statement, aware that she didn't know if the commander was alone or not, and wanting to have time to compose the news of Cayne's passing properly to present it to the rest of the crew. She knew she didn't have a lot of time to do that - already there would likely be talk going around - but she didn't want someone to have to overhear it from a wall panel. "Commander Cayne has been incapacitated; I'm making you our acting first officer. I want you to have security teams posted to all critical ships systems - the bridge, main engineering, the armouries, antimatter storage - everywhere that could cripple us should something go wrong. Then meet me in my ready room. I'll brief you fully there."

Releasing the push-to-talk button, she turned back around to Maya. "Please try and be discrete as you move him to sickbay. I want the chance to tell the crew myself what has happened."

"Of course Captain," Maya replied with a respectful nod. "If there is one thing my people are known for it is our discretion."

"Thank you, Doctor," the captain said. Pausing for a moment to cast one more involuntary look in Dewitt's direction, she turned and headed out of the armoury, on her way to the bridge to speak with Leo, and to try and compose the words she would say to the rest of the crew.