Course of Action

Posted on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 3:49am by Cailus Griffin & Captain Nycolas Temple & Lieutenant Kalin Brennan-Griffin PhD & Lieutenant Alexandra Alves MD & Lieutenant Commander James Smith & Commander Leta Rothgan PhD. & Lieutenant JG Aeryn Jameson
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 6:02pm

Mission: The Evils Within
Location: Rothgan's Quarters, Pithos Station, Hesiod Green
Timeline: Current

ON

The way to Commander Rothgan's quarters went through a few blank corridors of the facility. Upon arrival, Leta Rothgan greeted them in her quarters. The quarters were surprisingly large, about the size of Captain Temple's on the Pandora. The place was customized with mementos and pictures on the walls. There was a large sitting area with a couch and some comfortable chairs. It appeared as though Rothgan did some entertaining here. There was a poker table near the opposite wall. Rothgan gestured for the away team to come inside.

"Please come in," she said. "I host a weekly game night here, so there are plenty of places to sit."

Aeryn smiled politely as she walked inside, making her way over to a chair she sat down and made herself comfortable.

Not inclined to relax, Cailus chose to stand by the door, crossing his arms and glowering.

Alexandra walked in and looked around, curious about what might this place hold for them. She sat down quietly, and listened.

James also didn’t want to relax, like Cailus he decided to stand near the door so he could get a better view on things around him, but he would know if anyone approached the door as well.

Shae perched herself on the arm of the couch, half sitting and standing with her her hands folded neatly on her leg, although there was a tension in her lithe frame that indicated that she was on the defensive despite her calm composure.

Rothgan sat in one of the chairs once everyone had taken their seats. "In case you're wondering, these quarters are not bugged. You're also safe moving around the facility as Admiral Francis is sort of a hermit. Most of the time he's either in his office or his quarters which are close by. He's also not a scientist, so he almost never visits the lab. As far as he'll know, you left a few minutes ago. His appearance in the entrance was only meant to intimidate you. He's so incredibly hands-off that he didn't even know about my distress signal until today. My punishment will mean practically nothing."

"Are you sure will remain the case?" Aeryn looked at Rothgan. "Now that he knows you called for help it may cause the Admiral to be more wary. It could cause more problems for you."

Rothgan held up her index finger. "Let's be clear. First, Admiral Francis ordered me to order you to return to your ship. I did. Then Admiral Francis himself ordered you to return to your ship. You didn't." She spread out her hands. "It's pretty clear to me the only problem I have is you. So either follow orders and leave, or stay and complete your mission. The decision is yours. Either way, you have my help." She folded her hands in her lap and awaited an answer.

Before anyone could speak, the ground began to vibrate again. A small, ambient rumbling rolled round the whole facility and the ground near it. Rothgan's hand moved palm-down to her arm rest, as if preparing to steady herself. The tremor didn't build beyond a small shaking. Nothing was knocked off shelves or tables, but the movement was noticeable.

Still standing at the door, Cailus' frown persisted after the tremor ended, having steadied himself with a hand on the wall. If anything, his glower and scowl grew even deeper as he looked at Rothgan, than Shae, before sighing. "Shae, you mentioned that you detected dark matter in the planet while we were in orbit," he said wearily. "Worst case scenario, please, assuming that these...that the 'research team' have been manipulating the stuff to make weapons." His glare shifted to Rothgan as he sternly added, "And no interruptions please, Commander. With all due respect, regardless of your rank and the distress call, I don't trust you."

Rothgan nodded, but said nothing.

Shae did not respond immediately, her eyes growing heavy lidded as she focused on listening to the waning tremors; her hearing would have been better if her ears had been in their natural state, but she could still feel the pressure of their vibrations, and she did not like what she was hearing.

"Yes, I did detect dark matter," Shae finally answered, meeting her husband's gaze with a look of concern. "But regardless of what it's made of, tampering with a planet's core is extremely dangerous and requires the utmost of delicate care. Destabilizing the core can cause fluctuations in gravity, disruption of the planet's orbit and its rotation and thus its hold on any moons, all of which can have secondary effects in terms of catastrophic weather or even complete loss of the atmosphere in the right conditions, but the fact that we are feeling these tremors means the tectonic stability of Hesiod Green has been compromised. I would need more data to ascertain how compromised, but just from what I can hear and considering the core's composition, I am not very confident this world will be able to support life for much longer."

James had felt tremors like this through his career, and had witnessed what it could do to a planet and it’s population. Feeling a bit on nerve he said, “We need to get to the research team and figure out what they are doing and if they are the cause stop it immediately.” Looking over at Rothgan he said, “what’s the easiest way to get to get to the research team.”

Rothgan sighed. "The lab is located about a kilometer below us. We have a working transporter that is meant to beam people and larger objects directly to the lab. I don't recommend that. Instead, take one of the turbolifts. They're next to the two exits up here on either side of the facility in case of an emergency evacuation. There's one down the hall. Ensign Taylor, whom you've already met, can take you there. I think it's best if I'm not seen with you again."

"Hold up," Cailus commanded sternly, holding up a hand. "As much as I'd like to, we can't just barge in. The Admiral will arrest the lot of us if we try, and we have no authority here. As far as I'm concerned, everybody on this base is probably guilty of violating the Prime Directive and endangering this entire world, but we need to careful. We also all need to remember that when this goes to hell, it's all our careers on the line if Starfleet and the Federation Council don't like what we've done, not to mention the safety of an entire sentient species. Either way, the Captain needs to know about this mess."

With that, he tapped his combadge. =^=Griffin to Pandora.=^=

Then a female artificial voice replied from the badge: "Communication systems are offline due to unidentified phenomena associated with recent seismic anomalies. Unable to estimate time until communications are restored."

Cailus rolled his eyes. "There's one problem solved," he remarked with an ironic tone. "It'd be too dangerous to attempt an EVA hike without stable comms, so Admiral Francis can't just order us out of here." He sighed, looking around at everyone, one at a time: Doctors Alves and Jameson, both naturally extroverted and bubbly, compassionate doctors with no-one to heal. Lieutenant K'Laus, the burly supply officer with a knack for logistics and a quick mind in a crisis. Lieutenant Smith, the Starfleet Intelligence operative now working at odds with a Starfleet Intelligence operation. Commander Rothgan, an unknown quantity in the whole mess, but an apparently ally nevertheless.. Then, finally, Shae, a scientist faced with a science experiment seemingly gone very, very wrong.

It was a mismatched team, originally meant to evacuate a base in distress rather than whatever the mission had become, but they'd adapt. They'd have to. Thus, Cailus said "Alright. Open floor. I'm sure that we all have opinions about all this, and how best to proceed. Let's hear them."

"What if..." Shae started, pausing for just a moment to truly consider what she was about to suggest. "What if we relieved the Admiral of duty? He's clearly being dangerously reckless to insist on continuing the experiment, or at the very least he has a level of detachment from reality; we have a doctor and a counselor with us, both of which are able to make an assessment of fitness for duty, so why not simply remove the Admiral as an obstacle by relieving him from duty and detaining him."

"Haven't you guessed by now?" said Rothgan. "This facility isn't controlled by Admiral Francis. He's basically here for appearances. There are other people, higher people, in charge of this project. I'm guessing they already know the experiment is a failure and are letting it fall flat. They'll use Admiral Francis as a patsy and punish the rest of us. Meanwhile this entire planet perishes just for a few people to save face. I sent the distress signal to prevent that from happening."

"That is plainly evident," Shae replied. "But unless those 'higher people' are here to force the issue, then we're going to do what we came here to do. Really, Commander, if you were going to be so cynical about this, if you truly believed that things were so beyond control, then why did you activate the beacon at all?"

"Because at the time we didn't believe things were beyond control," Rothgan replied. "We thought Starfleet would send help. We didn't know it would be months before help would arrive."

James shakes his head as he thought about those unseen forces to him it only meant it was a black op Intellegence operation, and these people weren’t very easy to deal with and worked from the shadows. Turning to Rothgan he said, “I’ll deal with these unseen forces, I’ve dealt with OPs like this with the captain and if they are hoping to get away without notice we need to figure out where they are as well. They wouldn’t have left the planet yet. I’ve got to let Nyx know we may have Intellegence op that is flying under the radar.”

“The people who authorised this mess will be a thousand lightyears away,” Cailus commented sourly. “Others will deal with the politics back home. For now, we need focus on saving this planet and the people on it.” He glanced at Alves and Jameson. “If the Admiral is unfit for duty, either physically or psychologically, what do you need to make that determination? If we do this, it will have to be clear, unequivocal and by the book, both for the people on this base and the court martial back home.”

Rothgan nodded. "As cynical as I am about this," she said, "I believe any course of action is a good thing. You have my support."

Aeryn looked at Alexandra then at Cailus. "Regulations state that a person can be relieved of command if he or she endangers their command or is mentally or physically unfit for duty. Given what is occurring here and the Admiral's blatant disregard for what is obviously happening to this world, I think we more or less have good enough reason to declare him unfit. He is obviously in complete denial, either that or he just doesn't care."

Smith looked around as a decision was being made looking at Cailus he said, “With your permission Commander I’ll go relieve the Admiral of duty and ordered him held for mental evaluation.” Looking over at Rothgan he said, “Is there any surprises I should be aware of that the Admiral might have.”

"No, but you should be aware of what I have," Rothgan said. "Rank. A Lieutenant walking into an Admiral's office and relieving him is like the beginning of a very funny joke. Being the ranking officer, it is my duty and mine alone to perform. But by all means, let's go. Everyone else stay put for the time being. It'll mean fewer people to court martial. Starfleet can have my career."

"I have no intentions of 'staying put' so long as the planet is in danger," Shae said as she rose from her casual perch on the arm of the couch. "There's no reason for us to fear a court martial as we're operating on orders straight from Starfleet Command, and that overrides his order for us to leave. I'm going down to the lab to get started, the rest of you can rejoin me there once the Admiral is detained."

"Maybe you didn't catch my sarcasm," said Rothgan. "Whatever evaluation we give him, he will pass with flying colors. There is no evidence that he is mentally unhealthy or wrongfully doing anything, since he is acting on orders from people higher than him. Just because we disagree with him, and just because we see evidence that his orders are wrong, doesn't give us any authority to relieve him. I love my career. I do not want to be court martialed. If we actually did this, all of us would be discharged and face a long time in prison, and Francis would get an accommodation for it. Actually, more realistically, Francis would just laugh at us. What we should be doing is finding a way to get him to do something about this situation, since he's the only one here who can. I am not a science officer. My field is engineering. I'm here because I understand the technology of the equipment used here. But I do believe this planet is in danger, and so any help, real help, you could provide could save some lives... if it's not too late."

At that, Cailus stepped forward, glaring at Rothgan. “Admiral Francis is violating the Prime Directive,” he said furiously. “I don’t care what loopholes in the law you’re all working under, Commander! You are conducting weapon tests on the sovereign world of a pre-warp sentient species, and your experiments might well be putting them in danger. I cannot imagine why any Starfleet officer would accept orders like this, least of all a flag officer, unless they are unfit for duty. Can you seriously provide an alternative explanation for this mess?”

Aeryn looked at Rothgan. "What do you know of this native species? Do you have any kind of records of who and what they are?"

Rothgan shook her head. "We have avoided making contact with them."

Realising that Rothgan wouldn't answer, Cailus sighed. "Alright. Shae, Alves, K'Laus, get down to the research team. Find out what you can, but be polite. If this planet is unstable, we'll need their help to fix it." He paused, then frowned. "You are to disregard any classification of information at this facility as you investigate the situation, no matter what level of classification it lies under. That's an order, and my responsibility. Clear?"

With that, Cailus glanced at the others: Doctor Jameson and Lieutenant Smith. "The rest of us will go talk to Admiral Francis. We need to know more about all this, and Captain Temple will certainly need more information whenever we reestablish communications with the Pandora. If, in Doctor Jameson's opinion, Admiral Francis is clearly unfit for duty, we'll regroup here with Commander Rothgan and figure out how to proceed safely. If he is fit for duty, then we'll have to hope that we can convince him to see reason." Cailus looked to Rothgan. "Commander, at least for now, I would appreciate it if you stayed here, at least until we've assessed the admiral's condition. We may need you later on. Your presence while we meet the admiral could be disruptive."

Rothgan shook her head in disbelief. "Did IQs just drop sharply? Neither you nor Dr. Jameson have any authority to remove the Admiral from duty. That responsibility is mine. I would also need the approval of our resident physician, Dr. Tock, who is the only one here who could - and has - given him such an exam. And let's not forget all the red tape I'd have to go through to even start the process without fear of being charged with flat-out mutiny. Your Dr. Jameson may be very competent to perform such a task, but seeing as Pithos is not her assignment, and Admiral Francis is not her patient, her conclusion is void. This is assuming Francis accepts to take such an exam from Jameson, as it is his full right to refuse. The fact is, we have no time to do any of this. We have a sick planet and we need to either fix the problem or get out of here, in which case both Francis and I will face formal court martial. But let's consider our real options first. Removing the Admiral is not one of them."

"Commander," Cailus said firmly, not budging an inch. "That is only one option available to us, but I'm not discarding that option for the moment. We will talk to the admiral then return here. That is my decision, and it's final. You do not dictate to us. We'll be back to discuss our next plans as soon as we learn more about this mess." Glancing around at everyone else, he turned towards the door and added "Let's go."

James nodded, there was so many things going through his head, and to think that anyone could be conducting an highly secretive Intellegence operation bugged him greatly. He was hoping that they could come to a solution but finding out more about the Intellegence operation was his biggest priority.

OFF