USS UNICORN

Mission 4 -- A Whiter Shade of Pale

OFF>>
USS Unicorn Sick Bay:
ON>>
Wakakoe: finishes analyzing the latest tests. He obviously is troubled by
what he sees. His first subject Biggs, has been physically and
psychologically abused. The tests show that although he is strong, this is
an old man who has been pushed far beyond normal human limits. The disease
that was placed in him was one of the long lingering varieties much like a
stout case of the flu. It would with treatment eventually pass much like a
normal case. The second subject Lessonar was much less susceptible to the
virus and might have been a carrier for a short while but a full spectrum
immunization shot had allowed the tough Klingon to throw off the affects
rapidly. His last subject Kira was also troubling. The disease had taken a
strange turn in the Ivantia, causing a slow and lingering paralysis that
appeared to defy normal treatments. He carefully placed his research and
samples away. He had some ideas on where to go from here but some of the
more troubling aspects of the case bothered him. Summoning a nurse he
initiated a sterilization field and went to see his patients. He was not
surprised to see his first patient working at a console on his bed.
Biggs: Looking up with a strange glint in his eye, "Howdy Doc, I been doing
some research on my past. My memory isn't the same as it used to be. I made
a really strange discovery."
Wakakoe: humoring the old man as he runs a med scan. "What fascinating
thing did you discover Biggs?"
Biggs: "I discovered the darnest puzzle, I never went to bed with an ugly
woman, but I've sure woke up with a few." he says in a serious voice.
Wakakoe: shakes his head, and looks at the engineer wondering if this is a
joke. Usually he can tell, but something about the engineer's demeanor
tells him it is a serious comment. "Don't let it bother you, after what you
been through, you need to rest. You shouldn't be working so hard.
Physically your doing well, but these memory losses bother me. They may
have been caused by the electrical burns but I am not so sure."
Biggs: shrugs, "Don't fret none Doc, I have a new idea for improving the
shields. You ever wonder how Shields work Doc? Most people know that they
need energy and have a frequency and a good Ion blast will disrupt the
frequencies but that is about it. I been doing allot of research though
lately and I think I have a new type scoped out. You see it works like
this....."
Wakakoe: raising his hands, "Whoa Biggs, it won't do any good to tell me. I
wouldn't understand it anyway." Looks closely at the scanner, "Biggs I
would like Councilor DevRoy to check you out. I just saw the strangest
things on the scanner as you were talking. I will see if she can come in a
little later to talk with you."
Biggs: looks intently at the Doctor, with that strange hard glint, "Sure
Doc, sure. I never met the councilor. I hear she is a Beta Zoid and you
know what they say about them.... anytime, anywhere, with anyone. Probably
just a busted scanner anyway. Want I should fix it for you? Only take me a
minute or so and it will be right as rain."
Wakakoe: shocked not only by the comment which is totally unlike the
Engineer, but also, just for a moment it looked like the engineer could
have gleefully killed him! He decides not to press the issue. "I'll have
Stynt look at it later Biggs. Your supposed to be taking a rest here. Why
don't you relax a little and I will be back later to see how your doing. If
the scanner is causing problems then you can fix it for me then."
Biggs: more like normal, "Sure Doc, I could use a rest." hacking cough. "I
think I'll just take a little nap. I suddenly feel tired." He promptly
rolls over and almost immediately starts snoring.
Wakakoe: astounded at the sudden changes again in his scanners, departs
with a wary and frightened look. He activates a restraining field and gives
a stern warning to his nurse and in a strange gesture summons a security
guard in full armor to watch the engineer. To the guard: "You are to accept
no orders from Mr. Wayne. Under no circumstances approach him. If he tries
to leave the room, stun him immediately. Do not holster your weapon or Safe
it. You are to keep it trained on him at all times." He turns to the nurse.
"You are not to approach Mr. Wayne unnecessarily. Stay near the panic
button. If you have to approach him DO NOT remove the restraining field."
Security Guard and Nurse: shocked and very confused, "Yes Sir."
Wakakoe: calls the Bridge and requests an immediate meeting with the
Captain, Counselor, DevRoy, Lanor and J'min. He is very insistent. Then
leaves quickly for the turbolift.
OFF>>
Captains Ready Room ten minutes later:
Councilor DevRoy, J'min, and Lanor are already there and seated.
The Captain's aide Acey is standing by.
ON>>
McAllister: obviously has been interrupted and wants to get back to
planning his attack against the Krazzle, "Well Doctor, what appears to be
the problem that you had to request this meeting immediately."
Wakakoe: apologetically, "Sorry Sir, but I believe we have a serious
problem with Mr. Wayne."
McAllister: concerned, "His illness has gotten worse?"
Wakakoe: uneasy, "Not in the way you mean, The illness is a red herring I
believe. I think Mr. Wayne has become very unstable and may be capable of
almost anything."
Councilor DevRoy: concerned, "You have solid evidence of this?"
Wakakoe: more uneasy, "Not as such, nothing that can't be explained from
what he has been through. It is more of a feeling.... an intuition.... that
Mr. Wayne has become very dangerous."
Lanor: smiling, "Biggs is always dangerous Doctor, especially with
Replicators. The only thing he ever killed was a Pint of Old Panther Sweat.
Has he done anything to provoke such feelings?"
Wakakoe: extremely serious: "I am not joking Mr. Lanor. No, Biggs has
displayed no real emotional problems as such, sometimes though it is like
he is a totally different person when he is looking at me." He waves his
hand as Lanor is about to speak, "and Yes, I understand he has gone through
allot and may need some time to recover. I don't think that is it though.
When I look in his eyes now I see something I've never seen before. He is a
killer."
J'min: looks at the Doctor, "You mean he looks at you as if you are prey? I
do not know allot about your people but I have heard the concept of Revenge
used. Maybe Mr. Wayne wants to get back at the Rowlther and sees you as an
obstacle that is holding him back?"
DevRoy: interested, "You have no concept of Revenge?"
J'min: "Not as you know it. It takes more the form of Outrage that
something does not follow it's nature. For instance if Prey does not act
like prey, it is not a matter of Revenge but a matter of punishment. Lord
Skragg sees you as prey that does not act like prey. He seeks to punish you
and teach you fear.
McAllister: also interested, "So Skragg is Outraged at you for joining us?"
J'min: "Not at all. I am Outcast but still a predator. The rules are NOT
the same. My presence is a lesser offense in his eyes, more of an insult
than an actual Outrage. Being a loner is not always against our nature Sir,
you just are no longer a member of the pack. They will kill me horribly if
they can catch me, but it will not be with the same emotion by which they
will attack you."
Wakakoe: impatient which is unusual for him, "This is very interesting, but
can we get back to my original problem?"
McAllister: "OK, what is the consensus here people?"
Lanor: "I know Biggs is tough enough, but a killer? I don't think so. I
think he wants out of the sick bay and at the Krazzle. Admittedly, I
haven't had time to visit him lately, but I know how I would feel if I was
in his spot. I would want a piece of the guy that did it."
J'min: "I tend to agree. Mr. Wayne has been tested by the Rowlther. Now I
think he wishes to test them as well. This is good. It shows proper spirit.
I think we should encourage him that his pack mates stand ready to assist
him."
DevRoy: "I am uncertain, but I am not one to ignore someone else's
feelings. I think I should talk with Mr. Wayne and see what I can discover
before we make any decisions."
Wakakoe: looking at DevRoy, "Be very careful Councilor, when I suggested
this to Mr. Wayne, I thought just for a moment that he could have
cheerfully snapped my neck. I am not so sure you should approach him to
closely."
DevRoy: smiling "I will be careful Doctor, but I think I have nothing to
fear and perhaps I can help Mr. Wayne deal with the trauma he has been
through."
McAllister: satisfied, "Very well Councilor, examine Mr. Wayne and report
your findings at the next meeting. Now lets get back to planning our next
mission."
As voices were again raised in the planning mission Dr Wakakoe left the
Captain's Ready Room with a feeling of impending doom. He knew something
was wrong. He even suspected the source. How could he prove it?
OFF>>
Post from Lt Cmdr Wayne.....strange glint in eyes....heh heh heh

<USS Unicorn - Conference Lounge deck 2>
J'min rose to face the assembled officers, thanked the Captain, and then nodded to Acey to bring up the presentation he had produced earlier
A new picture of the planet appeared building up from gridlines to show seas, land formations, places of interest, and then the covering atmosphere. Over this J'min gave a brief outline of the situation:
J'min: Pale is a Class M planet, currently occupied by a sub-group of the Tomar Clan, one of the few we believe to be sympathetic to the Federation... and to the Minjay. This was at least true several months ago, before I left Minjay. Although the Clan sympathise with our cause, we do not know the amount of help they will be willing to provide, and of course they pay lip service to the leading clans of the Empire... Their Capital city is Sarghen, after the head of the group that settled this planet two centuries ago. Here we will find their governing family, whose patriarch I know only by name. However, as I am Krazzle, and have an understanding of the diplomacy and etiquette needed for these situations, it has been decided that I will lead negotiations with the leader of Pale...
J'min is about to continue, when Dr. Wakakoe's "distress call" comes up from Sickbay. After a brief argument, Wakakoe is allowed to enter the briefing and voice his concerns about Biggs
ON:
As Wakakoe leaves, J'min gets up to coninue his presentation. Acey restarts the view screen display. As J'min walks up the long briefing room table, he can't help worrying about Biggs. It seems strange to him that Clan Rowthler had attempted to infect Biggs... it did not seem like their style... more a Panthla kind of thing, and even the Panthla's only medical interests were for Assasination and destruction of enemies... - suddenly it all clicked - the Panthla ship at the base, the infection of Biggs, the ease of the rescue, and now this strange behaviour - There was only one possible explaination.
The colour suddenly drained out of J'min's face. He stopped where he was for just a second, before turning and running out of the room, leaving everyone staring behind him
OFF:
Hehehe - cliffhanger or what... see you in ten days
Lt (jg) (hon) J'min
Tactical Ofiicer
USS Unicorn

USS Unicorn Sickbay
Dr Wakakoe:placeing his scanner away, "Congratulations Lt. Lessonar, I have completed my examination and you are no longer contagious. I see no reason why you cannot take up your normal duties.
Lessonar - (Growling) "Good now I can at least do something useful. Thank You for taking my case I really dislike these computerized Doctors. They are not to be trusted. Their programming is so weak you know."
Wakakoe: smiling, "Yes I heard about that. I sympathize somewhat with your viewpoint Oh, by the way I have checked the computer records on that Slocar pet of yours. There is a standard procedure to have it de-sented if you like.
Lessonar: knowing the pet has escape but also not wanting to admit it, "No. It is a diplomatic pet and therefore I cannot allow such alterations (thinking-Besides the blasted thing has gotten loose again and I have no idea where it is hiding). "Any problem if I see my mates?"
Wakakoe: "I am sorry but Lt. Cmdr Wayne is still very ill and might reinfect you and Lt Malstem has had an odd reaction to this disease so I have to keep them away from crew at this time. Besides Councilor DevRoy is with Mr Wayne right now and I don't think it is a good idea for you to disturb her. As for Kira she is sleeping right now, maybe another time?"
Lessonar: "As you wish." Turning he left the sickbay and immediately decides to go to the fighter bay. Lessonar had a lot of experience with fighters and truly enjoyed flying them. He had some basic repair knowledge but always enjoyed watching the tecnicians at work. Federation fightersthough were real dogs. Perhaps when Biggs was better he could get the engineer to redesign and rebuild his fighter.
USS Unicorn Flight Deck:
Lessonar: arriving on the Flight Deck stops for a minute to watch his flight crew finishing the load out of his new fighter. He paused for a moment admiring the professional way the crew moved about the fighter with little talk, not getting in each others way. A tribute to his crew Chief.
The Lakeland class fighter was a two seater with a rounded, boxy shape and a forward mounted, rapid firing phasor array. On the underbelly of the fuselage were mountings for two photon torpedoes. Shields were average for the size of the fighter and it was not real speed demon either. It was not a shape really conducive to atmosphere flight although it could be used that way. In place of the Torpedo array an extra fuel tank could be mounted or a Hold for ferrying a squad of marines. This fighter had been designed to be an all purpose vehicle and while it could double and was serviceable in those respects it was no real match for anything that was specifically designed for those tasks. It did none of it's tasks really well. (Thinking-Typical Federation thinking. Give the pilots a piece of drek instead of what they really wanted.)
Crew Chief Janice Dillion: a small brunette in greasy bermuda-alls spotting the Klingon, closes the service hatch to the phasor array and walks over. "Hello Sir, I heard you put in for transfer to the fighter wing. Heard you had a pretty good record in the Klingon High Command as a test pilot for fighter aircraft. That makes you the most experienced fighter pilot on the ship. You plan on being the Wing Commander?"
Lessonar: gravelly voiced, "I was unaware my record was public knowledge Chief. I did petition the Captain since I am really not needed in the Marine Contingent and we do require a Wing Commander. He has not yet responded to my request officially."
Dillion: smiling, "Well I wish you luck. These fighters are brand new and we have been checking them out. At first they wanted to handle them through Engineering, but Biggs stated he had enough to do on the main ship and didn't have time to devote to the fighters especially since they have to be serviced constantly. It would have been worse, especially on combat missions. After the kidnapping, I suspect the Captain saw his point and I was assigned as senior crew chief with four techs for each fighter. These are my babies now."
Lessonar: glaring at the fighters, "These fighters are Gagh! They are useless as war craft. If I take such drek out to battle it will be OScrume!
Dillion: smiling at the pilot, "All you fighter jocks are the same, It ain't fast enough, or powerful enough, or don't turn fast enough. I suspect the Admiral chose them purposely just for that reason. They will be good for close in Ship support and a good anti-fighter defense group against multiple targets, but he doesn't want you running to far from the main ship you are supposed to support. I suspect the Captain feels the same way. He will want his fighters to defend mostly not attack. He also still needed a delivery system for the Marines. For a ship this small and a design test he could have picked worse."
Lessonar: not backing down but recognizing the truth in the Chief's thinking. "they could at least paint it for space camouflage and make it harder to hit visually!"
Dillion: still a step ahead, "We already ordered the paint and we configured the lead fighter #300 with Klingon panels and fittings so you would feel comfortable. Maybe you would like a little flight time? She's prepped an ready, you just need clearance."
Lessonar: now eager "Any one else ready so that we can test. I would like to run through an excercise with a wingman."
Dillion: smiling, "I thought you might. Lt. J'min asked me the same question earlier so we prepped #301 for him in Krazzle specs from the fighters we saw at the base we took. He also has combat experience like you and enjoys flying fighters. He and his partner should be here shortly. Chief Lincoln F. Sterns will be flying with you in your ship. He is an experienced hand in fighter and combat technique. You will need clearence from the Captain before launch though. I better finish getting the ships on the line, Sir. Good Luck."

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