Death Magnetic

Posted on Tue Aug 22nd, 2023 @ 10:00am by Ensign Nandi Chakma & Commander Arianna Frost & Lieutenant Commander BaoJun Qiao & Lieutenant Commander Finley Chu & Lieutenant Calderon Jarsdel & Gunnery Sergeant Roderik Kos & Ferrofax
Edited on on Wed Aug 23rd, 2023 @ 5:03am

2,796 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Season 1 Interlude II (E5.5)
Location: USS Phantom
Timeline: ID 6 - afternoon

Before the skeleton flight crew stood relieved and took to their bunks, they had given a quick debriefing. It hadn't taken long: somehow NICK was uninstalled but Ferrofax had been rebooted. From there, it would be up to the administrative staff and field team to determine not only the state of the ship but also try and figure out what had happened.

"I'm already accessing ship logs," Nandi said from an auxiliary terminal on the bridge, "but even a non-expert like myself can see clear signs of tampering. Someone did a number on the ship."

Arianna stepped over to Nandi, "there was one person who had intimate knowledge of NICK and a solid knowledge of this ship. This person is also missing. We need confirmation if this was Ensign D'hikatsi's work or someone elses." Then she turned to Bao, "Commander, please assist Ensign Chakma with this. We need to know how this was done and how to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"By all means," Nandi said, giving Bao full access to the terminal she was using. Checking logs was one thing; reconstructing them was entirely another.

Bao moved to stand beside her, eyes already glowing. "I do not think we have worked together before, Ensign, but I do not require the use of the console," he said lightly. He blinked once. "Normally I can interface directly with the Phantom's computer systems through my implants and entopic displays." He grunted, "My interface is still working, but the entire network is a mess. It looks like someone tried to do a... how does one say... factory reset. But very badly. It looks like memory was not properly wiped, but was simply done over the top. That should make it possible for us to salvage data. Could you check what the default name of that terminal is so I can take control of part of the display so you can see what I am doing?"

Nandi backed out of the system memory and accessed the terminal's properties directory. The terminal's default network name became prominently displayed. "Is that what you needed?" She did her best to keep her voice even while avoiding direct contact with his otherworldly, glowing rakshasa eyes.

"I am at a loss for words for the lack of faith you have in me," Ferrofax said, as the neighbouring terminal flickered and began to scroll with data and information. "You are not entirely wrong about the reset. I'm still rearranging my sock draw as it were, everything is here but it's just slightly out of place. I believe you think of it as unnerving. I am not predisposed to enjoy this feeling. If you don't mind, I'd like to tag along with your work. Just in case you find a digital tripwire in there, I might be able to jump on it fast enough to stop it from going off. Like the key tracker that's been logging your work so far, it's been trying to transmit openly through a combadge lost under a table in the mess for the last sixty seconds. I'm emulating the comms protocols it's expecting, continue as you were."

Nandi jumped in surprise. "Ferrofax! I didn't realize you were electing to be so... cooperative now, given our difficulty coming onboard." As she willed her heartbeat to slow, she realized Ferrofax had given a key piece of information. "Hold up. You said there's a combadge down here somehere?" She knelt down and crawled about on all fours. Just as she was about to give up, her fingers brushed against the familiar feel of chevron-shaped platinum. "Oh my..." When she stood back to her feet, Nandi presented the combadge to Bao. "I wonder whose it could be?"

Bao nodded along. "Yes, ensign, that was it. And thank you, Ferrofax. That is quite helpful," he said. He tapped his commbadge. "Qiao to Sergeant Kos and Commander Frost." He waited for the acknowledgment chirp. "Rodi, Commander, Ferrofax has indicated there is a commbadge active in the mess hall transmitting. It appears Ensign Chakma has located another here on the bridge." He paused and pulled up the internal systems on the computer. "I will endeavour to restore internal sensors to conduct a sweep for further transmitters."

After patching the combadge she had found into the internal sensor sweep, Nandi said, "It appears these are the only two. They are stuck in a feedback loop that created a digital port that was used to allow for remote access to the ship's systems through the comms network. No wonder the flight crew had a hard time rebooting Ferrofax's subroutines. This feedback loop could have kept the ship stuck on lockdown indefinitely."

"Frost. Received, Commander. Disable the loop, and isolate the commbadges for further analysis. They could yield clues later. Get Sergeant Kos and Commander Chu to locate the other commbadge, we'll need to do a full forensic analysis on both, while you and Ensign Chakma fix the mess they made.. Frost out." Ari's response came through.

Frost stepped over to Fin, Rodi and Cal, "Commander Chu, Sergeant Kos, we need to take stock of the state of the ship and get on with repairs if needed. Check the status of our defenses both physical and electronic, we'll need cloak and engines operational as well. Between the two of you, you have sufficient knowledge and experience."

Fin nodded at Frost. She then turned to Rodi. The bulky marine was already gone from her side. A quick check found Rodi at his tactical console. 'Guess that settles the division of labour.' thought to herself. With a few of her own steps she placed herself behind one of the bridge's auxiliary computer stations. Her access credentials gave her access to the Phantom. They gave her access to more than just the engineering or intelligence areas of the Phantom too, but those were not of particular interest to her.

Having received the goals set by Commander Frost, Rodi moved over to his familiar seat. His fingers danced over the LCARS, entering credentials and maneuvering from the initial combat information screens into diagnostic systems. The actions were so routine, that for a few moments Rodi's mind drifted to the days of his previous posting. The days of his medical tricorder, battlefield medicine, and being called Doc. In some ways, the good old days. Then the computer beeped, and his attention was drawn back to the diagnostic systems.

An initial overview of the four propulsion systems showed a beautiful array of yellows, reds, and worryingly few greens across the status board. As was almost always the case, Fin thought to herself, the attitude and maneuvering thrusters were all green. It seemed that even in the most dire of situations, simple chemical propellant systems never seemed to die. The starboard impulse engine was yellow, the report indicating that there seemed to be an issue communicating with the engine control system. The warp drive flashed yellow on just over half of the 8 warp coil pairs in both nacelles. The slipstream drive however, reported red. Several physical alignment errors. The most worrying however was data processor core failure, meaning that one of the cores charged with the corrective calculations was off line.

Rodi's quick diagnostic subroutines came back within minutes. All phaser banks were in good order, capacitors fully charged. Torpedo tube two reported three faulty launcher magnets, decreasing it's effective launch speed by 43%. Pulse Phaser Cannon 1 also reported an emitter warning, flagging it for visual inspection. All in all, the ship could be considered combat effective. This did not please the marine. All shield emitters were green across the board. This did please the marine. And finally the cloak reported that it was due for scheduled maintenance within the next 6 operational hours, but was otherwise green. This also pleased the marine.

"You find the combadge, gunny. I'll head down to engineering to wrestle whatever staff I can find," Fin ordered before stepping out from behind her console. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't destroy the combadge though. I'm curious to see the hack."

"Yes, ma'am," Rodi simply answered as he produced a tricorder out from under his console. The signal was faint, but Rodi's tactical sensor had an electronic warfare suite on board. He swept it left and right from his work station. The frequency analyser created a spike whenever he was in the right direction. For all the advanced technology they had, in the end it came down to swinging around an ancient minesweeper. It took a few minutes, but Rodi pinpointed a console maintenance hatch. The problem was, this hatch's latches were sheered off. Someone thought themselves clever. This combadge would've probably stayed hidden for months still before someone bothered to check it. And the sheered off latches would've given it even more time.

But the hatch was no match for the reinforced toebox of Rodi's duty boot. Two firm kicks bent the metal enough. Rodi's survival knife could serve as a prybar, and his pack was right next to him. A few manly grunts and the sound of tearing metal pulled the hatch open. The small combadge clattered out onto the ground.

Frost's voice came back moments later with instructions to secure the commbadge and to meet up in the Strat-Ops Conference room.

Ari then looked over at Cal, "I have intel we need to sift through. I have potential leads on Colonel Garlake and Doctor Garlake."

To Cal, the fact it was Ensign D'hikatsi's doing was entirely obvious in every way, but he also appreciated that some hard evidence outside of his own mind would be needed before the others would accept this. Honestly, he'd been surprised to know Ferrofax could be replaced so 'easily' but that was merely a testament to the Ensign's skillset and ability. He turned from watching the interaction between techs to Frost only when she directly addressed him. "No problem," Cal confirmed back. "We doing that here?" he asked, simply, letting Ari control this investigation discussion.

Arianna motioned over to the Ready Room. "Let's give them space," she said and stepped inside the Captain's Office.

Without a word of response, Cal obliged, following promptly in Frost's wake. While the separation from the others eased off the amount of multi-tasking his mind was currently experiencing, the change in location wasn't exactly far enough away to be entirely silent.

As the doors closed behind them, Arianna tapped on her personal communication device and took a PADD from the Captain's desk. After a quick check that it was safe to download data onto it. She then handed the PADD to Cal. On it were passenger and crew manifests and route plans.

"So, as you can see, they went out with a tourist sail in Suraya Bay, yesterday. They were due back the same day, but they never returned and the boat never came back to port." Frost said with a sigh as she took the chair at the desk and motioned for Cal to use the other one. "So, we need to see if we can get reports of sinking, piracy..." she spread her arms away from her and shrugged, as if to physically show she didn't believe either option, "...we need to do the works, go through all the steps." She shook her head and ran a hand through her messy bob.

Cal took the PADD and scoured the detail Ari had shared with him. He took his time, letting her words percolate his thoughts as he multi-tasked the digesting of information. He paced about the room a little, the physical activity something he'd found difficult to give up since his long confinement, but kept his motions slow and steady, directed and certain. "Or maybe, husband and wife and all, they opted to extend the trip?" He asked, throwing that in as an option at least. They had all been granted shore leave, and Risa had definite appeal for quality alone time.

Before more could be said, Bao's call came through. "Fuck...definitely not AWOL." Ari swore inwardly. "Frost. Received, Commander. Disable the loop, and isolate the commbadges for further analysis. They could yield clues later. Get Sergeant Kos and Commander Chu to locate the other commbadge, we'll need to do a full forensic analysis on both, while you and Ensign Chakma fix the mess they made. Frost out." Arianna tapped her commbadge and looked over at Cal.

"This just keeps getting worse and worse." She said with a sigh. Khaiel going missing wasn't a fluke, it was a deliberate act of sabotage...no, it was an attack. But by whom? Was it the Nagus? Or someone else? Was it connected to the falling of Castermer? Either way, Memory Theta dropped the ball, and there would be a price to pay.

"It's not getting worse, it's unravelling," Cal pointed out, his tone steady and confident. "We're on the Phantom. The team are figuring things out. Ferrofax is working *with* them. These are good things, Ari, good things," he assured her. A wry smile flashed very briefly on his face, then vanished. This was no laughing matter, but Frost was caught up in all the minutiae of this ongoing fiasco and as such was absolutely going to be a little stressed. He wasn't about to suggest she calmed down or anything, but his own manner of speaking, that neutral emotion of understanding and interest might just help ease her down a notch if he was lucky. "We know who did this, who set this up. He's gone, with his AI and as long as Ferrofax is on our side, let's call it a win and focus on what we need to, huh?" He stopped walking slowly back and forth and regarded Ari.

"We can track the boat," Cal suggested. "And we can track the Garlakes. If I focus, I'm sure I can find Jaya. The fact that she isn't actively seeking us - me - out is probably a good sign, right?" Her powers were strong enough, as were those of the triplets, to make herself known were she conscious and wishing to. "And we've got a great vantage point from up here..."

"Mate, I can read the 'calm down woman' from between your lines." Ari thought as she affixed Cal with a hard stare and a raised eyebrow for a moment, not bothering to hide the thought at all.

An engimatic expression took up residence on Cal's face, then he simply nodded. Not subtle, maybe, but it was at least well-meant concern.

"We actually don't know shit, Cal and that's the problem. Only that Khaiel got flipped," she said. The PADD signaled an end to an analysis. She took the PADD and tapped on it. "Okay, here we go, manifest analyses:

Sailboat: Harlekin
Captain: Kihrab Th'ethirer (Andorian)
Lieutenant Roy Zahra (Human)
Deckhand Jaeger Waring (Human)
Deckhand Ka'Da (Klingon)
Navigator Suva (Vulcan)

And would you look at whose payroll they're on," Frost sighed and handed the PADD over to Cal.

The name on the PADD showed another party in play. One that had been gravelly shamed and embarrassed back on Deep Space Nine during the trial. Stelio Kontos. A Deltan with a big beef against Memory Theta, most especially Jaya and Storr Garlake.

"Well, fuck." Said Cal, simply and with clear emotion. "You were right. I was wrong. It's definitely getting worse." And the fact that Jaya wasn't reaching out had certainly now given him a very uncomfortable chill feeling in his gut. "Let's go find them..."

Akiva's voice echoed throughout every room on a ship-wide channel. "This is Captain ben-Avram to all senior staff: meet in the Strategic Operations Conference Room. Repeat: all senior staff to the Strat-Ops Conference Room."

Ari looked over at Cal, "alright, let's see if we can put the puzzle together, eh?" She nodded to the man she was beginning to consider a friend and headed out of the office. Just at that moment Rodi's call came in that he'd found the second commbadge. Frost issued him instructions as she and Cal were on their way to the Conference Room.

"Yes, Commander," said Cal, seriousness personified now. Behind that calm exterior, his mind was working double-time, reaching outward for tendrils of any promixity thoughts he could grab. They needed a trail, and he would be on it like a bloodhound, focus gathered, doubt faded away and concern wrapped about him like an uncomfortable blanket. Jaya and Storr were in serious danger, and time was absolutely of the essence.

"Does... does that include me?" Nandi paused to think. "No. Wait! Yes. I'm Captain Mrazak's adjutant, so yes!" She hurried after the others.

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