Set Phasers to Satyrize

Posted on Sun Sep 17th, 2017 @ 1:16pm by Commander Mal Xustos & Lieutenant Nathanial Summers DSci

Mission: When Iconians Deserve to Die
Location: "Two-Abreast Tavern"
Timeline: Current

Though he had some work to do as the end of shore leave loomed near, Mal still had a fair about of spare time on his hands. Recently, when his hands had time to spare, he would spend time with Clio, who would give hands something to do. Unfortunately, Clio was off on a mission so Mal was on his own. During his time at Artan Fortress, Mal had discovered the charming little folk town that had been set up in the interior. In it, he'd found a tavern called the 'Two-Abreast" which featured a sign over the door with a carving of two busty women standing side-by-side. When he had the time, he liked to stop there for a drink and sometimes a meal. Today he was combining business and pleasure. He wanted to chat with the new Chief Science Officer, Lieutenant Summers, but he didn't want to do it on the ship. Here they were with the facilities of Artan Fortress at their disposal and Mal thought they should take advantage of it. Mal entered the tavern and was shown to his favorite table by a busty holocat wench. He ordered a mug of flip which the feline holowench brought over quickly. Mal sipped his drink and waited for the lieutenant to arrive.

Nathan was still getting used to this fortress, in fact, he was quite daunted by the sheer size of the thing. Why the XO wanted to meet in a place like this was beyond him but when he had received to invitation, Nathan could hardly refuse. Wandering into the 'Two Abreast', he immediately began scanning for the exec and after finally spotting him, Nate sauntered over to the being and said, "What's a nice satyr like you doing in a place like this?" He had always wanted to say those words to someone.

Mal glared at Nathan.

"What gave you the impression I am a 'nice satyr'?" he said in an icy tone. He held his glare for a long moment, then broke into a grin. "The answer is that a lot of people say I'm a nice satyr. And I am...most of the time! Commander Mal Xustos and you are Lieutenant Nathaniel Summers? Please, sit. Order whatever you'd like. The food and drink here at Artan Fortress are the real thing. No replicators are used except in emergency situations. We must take advantage of this luxury while we can."

"I just assumed you were nice, my apologies, Commander. I didn't mean for that to sound like a come-on. A Smirnoff Ice Green Apple flavor if you have it, please," he asked the bartender. "Oh, I suppose this is in order. Lieutenant Nathanial Summers, reporting as ordered, Sir."

"No worries," Mal said. "I didn't think it was a come on and I wasn't up set. Just having a little fun with the new guy. Where's the fun in being an All Powerful Executive Officer if you can't at least pretend to intimidate your subordinates? So, in most professional situations, I'll likely just refer to you as 'Lieutenant' or 'Lieutenant Summers' but just so I know if I use your given name, how do you prefer to be called? Nathaniel? Nathan? Nate?"

"I was also joking. I recognized that you were the type to joke with the noob. And that's ok, Sir. Forgive my staring but this the first time I've ever seen a satyr as they are in short supply on Earth or anywhere else for that matter. My family calls me 'Nathan' as do most of my friends but my partners have all called me 'Nate'. Call me whatever you feel comfortable with except late for duty," Nathan laughed at his own joke. If this was how the command staff was all the time, then he was definitely going to like this assignment.

"Alright then," Mal said. "So, as you have probably already guessed, this isn't going to be like any other assignment you had up til now, and likely not like any you'll have after you move on from here. I'd like to tell you that having captain who's also the matriarch of a pirate clan and owns a space fortress paradise that she let's us use for shore leave is the only out of the ordinary aspect of our work, but it isn't and it won't be. Demon mad scientists, aliens posing as gods from various Earth cultures, and who knows what else. We've got some interesting, not to mention dangerous, work ahead of us. Almost every day in Starfleet involves risk, but some assignments are riskier than others. We're one of those. Do you remember what James Kirk said about risk?"

"Not exactly but I get the gist of what you're saying and as I've told the captain, I am ready, willing and able to do whatever is required of me and then some," Nathan said to his new XO. "Now tell me something I don't know," he said with an impish grin.

"He said," Mal replied. "Risk is our business. Remember that when the excrement hits the air conditioner and you wonder if this is the life for you. This is the life you chose. Risk is our business."

The bartender handed Nathan his drink. Mal waited until he left to continue.

"Several of our crew," Mal said. "Along with Hermes, yes, I said Hermes, have gone on a mission to contact Hephaestus, yes, I said Hephaestus. They are traveling to planet 892-IV where a society parallel to Earth's Roman Empire has sprung up. Their technology level is approximately that of 21st Century Earth. They've broken the warp barrier so the Federation has opened negotiations with them. Our team intends to local a temple of Vulcan, Vulcan being the Roman name of the Greek god Hephaestus, and try to contact him from there. The Master, the demon we have been chasing across time and space, seems to have the ability to rapidly, almost instantaneously, regenerate. Not just from minor wounds, either. Members of our crew have witnessed him regenerate from severe tissue damage, even massive, destructive, head trauma, in a matter of moments. Hermes believes that Hephaestus can forge a weapon that will be able to disrupt the Master's accelerated cellular regeneration ability. If we can get that weapon, we can strike blows against him that will not heal, kill him, hopefully. If you get to see this weapon, I wouldn't touch it if I were you. Even an accidental cut would leave you with a wound that would never heal. Has anyone discussed Staff Warrant Officer Nexi's condition with you?"

"Um, no, Sir. This is the first time I've heard that name. But now that you mentioned the name please go ahead. You've piqued my curiosity."

"When we last encountered the Master," Mal said. "Two of our officers engaged him with pistols. All that did was drive him off in another direction for reasons I've already explained: he recovered almost immediately from his wounds. Nexi intercepted him and cut him with a dagger. Some of his blood got on an open wound and she is now infected. Whatever the Master is, she is becoming. Crewman Dedjoy and the medical staff here at the fortress have the details. I believe that Ida...Crewman Dedjoy, could use a little help figuring out how to treat and hopefully cure Nexi. They came up with a belt for her to wear that halts, or at least drastically slows the effect of the Master's blood, but that's only half of the problem. Every time she gives into rage and gets angry, it advances the effects of the Master's blood, belt or no belt. I know that biology, or whatever this is, isn't your field of specialty, but I know that potential science officers at the academy are expected to become familiar with various fields of science. I'm going to need you to call on that knowledge now. More than that, though, you're in charge of the science department. You have the expertise of many scientists to call on. Being in charge usually doesn't mean you do the job yourself. Being in charge means that you use the resources, including personnel, at your disposal to get the job done. On a personal note, we're rather fond of Nexi around here. She's a foulmouthed, ornery, disobedient, insubordinate, ill-mannered, pain in the ass with a lone wolf complex, but she's ours and we'd like to keep her around for a while. Hermes is going to ask around his people for any help they can give.
Until then, anything you and your department can do to help us do so would be appreciated."

"I feel certain that I will be of some assistance to you in this case and I swear to you that I will do everything in my power to help her," Nathan said firm in the knowledge that he would try his utmost to save her. "Do you have anyone in Medical that I can confer with?"

"Start with the Artan medical staff," Mal replied. "The nurses are holograms, but the physicians are flesh and blood and quite good at their jobs. Not that the nurses aren't, but, unlike flesh and blood nurses, they aren't programmed to expand their knowledge base in order to function as medical scientists. Their programming isn't as sophisticated as that of the captain's wife, sister-in-law, and niece. Her niece, Akira, is our operations officer. You'll meet her soon, I assume. Be patient with her. She's technically only been alive for the last four months or so. Anyway, start with Crewman Dedjoy, then the Artan medical staff. By then our medical staff will have had a chance to examine Nexi or at least look at her test results and they'll be able to have an intelligent conversation with you about what's going on with her."

"Aye Sir, I'll start with Crewman Dedjoy then. And from there, I'll meet with the medical staff here. Are there any names of people I should start with?"

"Dr. Tuborno," Mal said. "He's treating Nexi here at the fortress. On the Hera, our infectious disease specialist is working on the problem."

"Thank you, Commander. I'll start with the crewman and progress from there."

"Excellent," Mal said. "So, I've read your file. I know some of the pertinent facts. Tell me something interesting about your previous assignments. You came highly recommended by Rear Admiral Vorik. What made you choose to take a break from Starfleet and pursue your education rather than join the admiral's staff? Being an admiral's dog-robber is hard work, but it does great things for your promotion potential."

"To be honest, I thought about it long and hard. I turned him down because it wouldn't have done anything for my promotionability in my chosen field. I could be a lieutenant commander maybe even a commander by now but it would have been as some pencil pusher, not as a science officer. I wanted to get promoted based on my skills as a scientist not as an aide to some admiral. My desire to further my education had nothing to do with the admiral's offer. I had been thinking about taking that sabbatical for quite some time by then. Admiral Vorik's offer had just pushed me in that direction quicker.

"My first assignments were all pretty much dry stuff. The interesting stuff didn't start until I was posted to the USS Sentinel. Now that assignment was very fun for me; I was assigned as their Astrometrics Officer. It was my first time serving in that capacity. The Firehawk saw my first step towards this job. I was promoted to Assistant Chief Science Officer and it only got more interesting from there. And the rest as they say is history, Sir."

Realizing that Nathan didn't seem to want to talk anymore about his past, Mal decided to let him off the hook. He drained his mug.

"Ah," Mal said. "Excellent. Well, I'm off. Work to be done and all that. Nice to meet you Lieutenant Summers."

Mal motioned to the bartender and when he came over, he paid for both of their drinks and then stood up. Before he left the bar, he turned back to Nathan.

"Welcome aboard, Lieutenant," Mal said. And then he was gone.

"Thank you, Sir. It appears my stay on board this ship will not be boring in anyway."