"Traces"

Posted on Sun Dec 15th, 2024 @ 7:59am by Captain Samuel Woolheater & Lieutenant Anna Esquivias & Lieutenant JG Daisheliss "Lissa" Kerr

Mission: Season 6: Episode 5: A church beyond heaven
Location: Crew's Mess Hall
Timeline: MD2 - Early
999 words - 2 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON:]

MESS HALL

Sam walked into the crew mess hall and looked for someone from the Sciences. ~Bingo!~ There was a blueshirt, hopefully she wasn't a dentist or an historian. He approached the table. On his way, he passed the coffee dispenser and got himself a cuppa of the world's fastest coffee and then sat down at the table.

"Excuse me? I don't think we've ever met. I tend to stay in my...area on deck thirty-two. I am in need of some help. And I think I need the help of someone in the Sciences." He could see the surprise on her face and then added, "I know that this is...awkward and rushed. I need someone who works in OPS." Looking at both of them with a swivel of his head, "Are either of you in those areas or...can you point me to someone whom you might know? Please? It's very urgent."

"Hi, I'm the Assistant Chief, Lissa Kerr," the Orion Science Officer responded. "Urgent you said?" The ship wasn't on any kind of alert status that she was aware of, the officer's unusual way of approaching the table and pressing sense that timeliness was at issue had her curious.

"Assistant Chief, wow, jackpot. Look, I know this isn't the 'right' way to do this. But I'm running out of time. There's no way to do this pretty. A Marine sentry was attacked at his duty post last night. I'm trying to find out who attacked him. The internal sensors in that section were offline. They got damaged during the cosmic filament crash. I have this kooky idea that there must be another way to use the sensors we do have and that were online to track these...attackers. But, I'm just...nobody...and I don't have access to internal sensors. And I need the help of someone who understands about air pressures, or light diffractions...or how to track someone when they disappear." Sam explained himself as best he could and took a swig of coffee. Here he handed her his tricorder with as much evidence as he could have gathered. "Take a look? Can you help me?"

Anna had just entered the mess herself. She got some wings from the replicator and headed towards Lissa. She had met the other woman a few days ago and had thought it was a promising friendship. She paused as she approached, seeing Captain Woolheater talking to her. It seemed important. Anna didn't want to interrupt.

Sam took a swig of his coffee as he watched Lt. Kerr review the limited tricorder readings. He noticed a gold trimmed OPS person hesitating to approach the table and asked, "Am I crashing a lunch date?" He indicated with his eyes to Anna and a sight nod of the head in her direction.

"We discovered the other day that we both tend to take our lunch around now," Lissa said with a nod. "Fortunately for you, Starfleet doesn't pay its officers by the hour. Your problem doesn't look complicated at all."

Sam felt deflated by that remark. As if it should be perfectly obvious what needed to be done. This certainly did not make him feel good about the situation. He let a beat pass and said, "Yes. Well. It sounds like the way forward is going to be easy for you. Does this mean you'll help me?" Sam gestured for Anna to come over and sit down at the table. It certainly would help to have an OPS officer to help with the scans or whatever else was needed.

Anna took a seat. She looked to the other two, not sure yet what was going on.

Sam smiled back in greeting, "Welcome to table number nine. Apologies for disrupting your normal lunch pattern. I'm Captain Woolheater, you may remember me from such crisis events as the cosmic filament, being camped on 'Popsicle One' or Marine fire teams training alongside Security."

"That last one might have been before my time," Anna said. "I'm Anna Esquivias. It's good to meet you, sir."

Sam replied, "Very good to meet you Lieutenant. I was just pestering Lieutenant Kerr here about getting some help running some detailed scans of an area where the sensors have failed. How much do you know about extrapolating available sensor data from non-primary sources?"

"A decent amount, sir," Anna answered him. "A lot of processing power and a healthy dose of human intuition. Well, half-human." She smiled.

He smiled back at her and nodded, "It sounds like you could help us out. I need help with a little project."

Sam looked at Lissa again and asked, "How long do you think this will take? To get the scans done I mean?"

Lissa shrugged. "It'll take as long as it takes. If we find something in an hour it will take an hour. If we don't, then we keep going until we've exhausted our resources. Science officers can be very resourceful, so I wouldn't put a clock on it."

He responded, "Unfortunately, there is a clock on on it. I need to get some answers before I report to the Colonel. I don't like bringing her problems without solutions." Sam finished his coffee and picked up the PaDD from the table. "I really could have used some help. I'll have to do the best I can with what I have." He got up from the seat and said, "Sorry to bother you. Nice to meet you Lieutenant and Lieutenant."

"Wait a second, sir," Anna requested.

He stopped and looked at the Chief of Operations wondering what her request might be.

"Yes Chief?" he asked.

"We didn't say we wouldn't help," Lissa responded.

"Let's do what we can as fast as we can," Anna suggested.

Sam nodded back, "OK. Let's do what we can in the time left. I'm trying to keep one Marine alive and put two bad ones in the brig. I'm ready."

[OFF:]