Post 29

Posted on Sat Feb 28th, 2015 @ 12:21pm by Captain Christina Curtis & Commander Leo Carpegiani PhD

Mission: Begin with a Bang
Location: Captain's Ready Room, A-Deck, Discovery NX-04, Deep Space
Timeline: May 15th, 2155 - 0930 hours

Christina stepped through the hatch into her ready room and immediately began pacing its meagre length, running her hands through her hair as she did so. She only crossed it once before beginning to speak, knowing that Leo deserved to know what she had just learnt. "There was an explosion in the armoury. Some sort of device attached inside one of the wall panels. No torpedoes were in the room, but Dewitt took the brunt of it in his face. He's dead."

Leo had been sitting in the chair next to the entry hatch when the captain stepped in. He stood up when she started pacing and felt the colour drain from his face when she imparted the news. He was shocked, having met with the Commander only a couple of days earlier in the armoury. He hadn't known Dewitt long, but he seemed a decent fellow and he looked forward to serving with him. "Mio Dio," he croaked as his hand instinctively rose to cover his mouth.

Christina allowed herself a moment to stop pacing, rest both hands on the end of her desk, and breath, trying to take in the morning's events. They were barely a day out of spacedock, and already a member of her crew - someone who had trusted her with their life - was dead. Was this a sign of things to come? Were they really going to get onto a mission of exploration, or was it just going to be one loss after another? She shook her head vigorously to dispel the thoughts and return her mind to the moment. "Doctor Maya thinks that the device that exploded may have been planted after we left spacedock. If she's right, that means we may have a sympathiser of Terra Prime on board. I've ordered Luís to perform a check of all ship's systems for anything similar before we carry on along our way, but unless we can figure out who it was, and if they are still on board... we're still at risk. And if something like that device goes off near the warp core, or the antimatter storage containers... we'd be dead in the water, at the very least."

The thought of another explosion closer to a critical system was enough to send a chill down Leo's spine. Space travel was risky enough without the added threat of malicious explosives. And the thought that the person who planted the device might still be walking among them, pretending to be their comrade while all the while working against them, was even worse. "If the perpetrator is still on board, they have to know that there is nowhere to run."

Having recomposed herself somewhat as she god up to steam with trying to deal with the situation analytically and in stages, rather than focussing on the emotions of it, Curtis straightened from where she had leant and turned to perch on the edge of her desk, facing Leo as she continued. "We're going to need to comb everyone's service records for any possible links to Terra Prime, and interview anyone who might be suspect. I don't exactly want to create distrust amongst the crew, but I don't see many other choices in front of us. Do you know how far the Andorians are with our MACOs?" She had been hesitant at having the specialist military personnel assigned to her ship in the first instance, but now she saw them almost as a godsend. With Dewitt gone, the MACO commander would be someone she could hopefully rely on to assist in ship security in the short term, and the troops were a ready group who hadn't been aboard when the device was planted that she could use to guard sensitive areas against any further possible sabotage.

"Sensors have them travelling at a standard cruising speed," Leo replied. "At that speed they'll reach us tomorrow."

"Let's hope they're curious as to our sudden stop and they pick up the speed," Curtis said.

Leo nodded in agreement, finding himself for the first time in his career wishing for the security of a MACO detachment. A moment of silence lingered in the ready room as Leo's thoughts turned to the other unexpected development. "Captain," he said as his turbulent thoughts coalesced into words, "I know that neither of us expected such a development and you probably have never even entertained the notion of me serving as your first officer - I know I had not. But I just wanted to let you know ... you can count on me, Capitano."

"Thank you - Commander." Curtis responded, with a slight pause in the middle. She thought it was important to use Leo's rank to let him know that she too felt that she could count on him to do what the rank implied. "Until our MACOs get here, you should take charge of the armoury officers and security. It might be a good idea to see if we can try to put together an access log of everyone who went into and out of the armoury since we left dock."

"Yes, Captain," the Acting First Officer replied. "I will take care of it immediately. Excuse me."

As Leo moved off to carry out his task, Christina took a deep breath, steeling herself for her own next task. She moved around her desk and lowered herself slowly into her desk chair, knowing that she should sit down for this, so that she didn't have to think about keeping her legs stable under herself. Reaching over to the comm. unit, she pressed the button that would connect her with the rest of the ship.

"All hands; this is the captain.

"I am certain that you have all noticed the rocking of the ship and our stop that came shortly after, and those of you who were not called to assist in the incident are likely wondering what happened." She paused again, trying to think of the right words to use. "There was an explosion of one of the components in the wall panels of the armoury. The explosion caused only minor damage to the ship, but I am deeply troubled to inform you that it resulted in the death of our first officer, Commander Cayne.

"I know that this is a hard thing to hear so early in our mission, and we will need to set aside some time later to properly mourn his passing. But I am afraid that I have some more disturbing news. We believe that the explosion was caused by a device that was deliberately put behind the wall panelling. There is a chance that whoever put it there could still be onboard. The safety of the crew is my top priority, and so we will be remaining where we are until we can determine that there are no other such devices on any of our systems. Security will be tight until we can either find the person who did this, or conclusively confirm that the device was placed before our departure from Earth. Some of you may be called in to be interviewed by myself and Commander Carpegiani. Do not feel as though we have singled you out if you are. We are simply making sure we leave no stone unturned in our search for the truth.

"I ask that you delay writing home about this until after our mission is complete, so that we can keep information of our mission compartmentalised. Any letters which are sent will be screened before determining if they can go on their way, or if they should be held back until a later date.

"I expect that we can count on the professionalism and cooperation of all of you through this difficult time. Curtis out."