After The Storm

Posted on Thu Mar 9th, 2017 @ 5:47am by Brigadier General Christopher Mitchell & Commander Andrew Knight & Lady Catherine Waddington

Mission: Another Day in Paradise
Location: Main Conference Room
Timeline: Three Days After 'Red Alert'

ON:

Christopher stood in the upper ring of the base with a PADD in hand, staring at it as if he was reading some important instruction when in actuality all the PADD contained was a map of the base along with some orders and reminders. He noticed that since he had changed uniforms from the standard duty uniform to the gold-trimmed version with the signature black leather belt emblazoned with the Starfleet insignia, people were now giving him a wide berth. Returning the occasional salute, Chris forced himself to take a hard right out of the corridor that he had found himself in, he continued his walk towards one of the secondary lifts. Stopping for a moment, he looked over the railing and saw the massive wall of people crashing against each other in an effort to complete their in-processing. Almost every person was dying for a warm shower, a hot meal, and a bed to sleep in and they were sick and tired of the overcrowding. He could feel the vibrations of their discontent reaching a fever pitch and he made a note to remind his people to either speed up the process of housing these people and putting them to work or prepare for an all-out rebellion.

Entering the lift, Chris tapped the button to head down one level and felt the drop in his stomach as the lift shot downward and slid to a smooth halt on the next floor down. Walking out confidently, he stopped outside of a set of doors that were labeled 'CONFERENCE ROOM'. Stepping inside, he was amazed to see a sleek black tiled room with fluorescent lights suspended from the overhead and a circular table with a holoprojector in the center. Setting his PADD down at the chair in the 12 O Clock position, he paced the room to get a feel for it and search for a functioning replicator.

Lady Catherine walked in flanked as always by Tazanna and Meredith “I understand you wished to see me sir?"

Chris nodded. "I did. Take a seat and we'll begin shortly."

Cara walked through the door of the conference room looking haggard. She still hadn't changed clothes as she had been busy trying to get patients settled that had been transferred from the Zumwalt and Hopper. The only part of the medical facility that had power enough to monitor patients was in the ER and its overflow area so those patients needing extended care had been placed in the treatment cubicles and the others awaited treatment on hover gurneys along the walls. Cara was still trying to figure out who from their old staff had survived and what visitors with medical training had been forced to evacuate with them. It was daunting. She walked over to the table and plopped down in a chair, leaning her head back against the back of the chair and closing her eyes for a few minutes.

Ja'xon entered a moment after Cara did, looking agitated and spread thin, he sat down opposite the doctor, maintaining his upright and stern posture. He was relieved to discover some Marines made it aboard the Hopper, but it wasn't enough to improve their position. In total, he had a force of 35 Marines under his command, nowhere near enough for a base this size. He needed more Marines and he needed them now. The Marine's first priority would be to replenish their numbers, he decided.

Drew was looking at a PADD as he took the few final steps to the conference room door. He pulled up short just before colliding with Ragnas. "Sorry about that Commander Gunnbjorn." He gestured to the door. "Please, after you."

Ragnas looked up at Drew, "No worries, Knight. I was the one practically running just now." He would have been late otherwise, "But please, go ahead."

Drew nodded and smiled as he gestured again. "I insist."

"Very well, thank you." Ragnas said as he walked in to the room and sat down in the closest chair to the door.

Drew followed Ragnas in and took the seat to Christopher's immediate right. He gave the Brigadier General a nod of his head as he greeted him. "General."

Hearing Drew's voice, Cara opened her eyes and looked over at her friend. He looked as haggard as she felt and she wondered how he was holding up with the loss of his brother and sister-in-law. She wished she had had some time to console him but things had been so hectic that this was the first time she had seen him since the whole ordeal began.

Christopher stood as the last of what constituted his ad hoc senior staff. "Good Afternoon. As many of you probably haven't had a chance to sleep, I'll keep this short. As of 1300 yesterday, we've been formally assigned to this base and tasked with bringing back to operational status, so as of yesterday, you are all officially senior staff, although I know you've all been assuming those duties anyway- Lieutenant Commander Knight will be serving as my XO and the Chief Intel Officer. Gunnery Sergeant Vasquez, you'll be serving as Chief Ops with a temporary rank of Captain. Lieutenant Nichols, you're my CMO. Lieutenant Ja'xon, you'll be pulling double duty as the commander of the Marine Company along with the security teams. Lieutenant Commander Gunnbjorn, you'll remain in command of the Hopper- You'll receive a patrol schedule within the next 2 hours, so stand by for that. Lady Waddington, you may serve as my Diplomatic Officer if you so choose." Stopping for a moment, Christopher looked around at the haggard team that he had before him. These men and women had been through all sorts of hell but were approaching the situation with a positivity that he had never seen before. "Now, I need a status report on what's happened so far."

Drew looked about the table to see if someone else wanted to start. He decided to give a general rundown of what he knew to have made it to this safe harbor. "Well sir, both starships, a contingent of Valkyrie fighters and numerous small craft jammed with evacuees from the starbase and destroyed vessels of the relief force made it here to Ef Oh Bee Anchorage."

"If it helps I am cleared on fighters. Both as a pilot and maintaining them sir." Meredith spoke up

"I will serve as your Diplomat. It at least makes me of some use." Catherine stated.

"Medical is overcrowded as we only have 15 beds in the ER overflow for In Patient Care and they are full so we have 10 gurneys anchored outside of the cubicles for the other patients not ready to be released. Engineering has said it is going to be several weeks before the IPC units are going to be inhabitable. There is no power to the Surgical Suites and that may take longer. Not that it matters. I only have a few surgeons that made it out of 900. All in all, it looks like Surgery, Critical Care and Isolation will have to be taken care of in the Zumwalt and Hopper's Sickbays," Cara reported, wearily.

Christopher nodded. "Lady Waddington, assemble your department and comb through the databases aboard the station. I want to know who we can reach out to once we bring this station fully online. Lieutenant Ja'xon, Gunny Vasquez, you've been quiet. What do you have for me?" he asked, the all too familiar edge coming into his tone.

Ja'xon spoke up, "Sir, to be frank we do not have enough Marines to properly defend this base. Even if we add in the security personnel to those numbers, we won’t be much better off. You are well aware that Starfleet security personnel are not Marines. However, I do believe I have a solution." Ja'xon looked around the room, making eye contact with many of those in the room. "I would like to recruit from our civilian population."

The Marine CO paused for a moment, to allow everyone to process what he was asking. "Starbase 900 was outright destroyed by the Borg and it is reasonable to assume that they or others will find us here. We need a ready defense force, trained to respond to these type of threats. To be clear, I am proposing we increase our enlisted Marine numbers by recruiting from our civilian population. I would also like to train 5 Marine Officers."

Christopher leaned in. "It sounds good but how do you propose we train them, Lieutenant? An Officer Candidate School program would require a full staff and facilities for combat instruction and field exercises, not to mention training enlisted Marines would require additional staff."

Drew had his own concerns regarding Ja'xon's assessment of the marine and security forces. He did have a couple of ideas though. "I would be reluctant to conscript any civilians into service, either as Starfleet or Marines." He turned to Chris. "That being said. We can ask if any civilians are prior service and initiate the reserve activation clause when they separated from service. There's is also my special warfare operators. I'm the only officer left, but I do have twenty one enlisted operators. They could be rolled in with the marines and security to bolster their strength for the time being."

"I have 2 marines assigned to me both were officers at one time." Catherine remarked
Gunnery Sergeant Vasquez chimed in "And I would not mind lending any assistance that I can" offered the Chief of Operations. "I may usually have myself changing out isolinear chips and cross wiring things around here, but I am still a marine at heart" she added. "Other than that, I report that Operations personnel have been working hard to keep this place up and running."

Christopher nodded. "Very well, Gunny- Ops and Engineering will be yours for the time being." Turning to the diplomat in the room, Christopher spoke. "Technically under Starfleet regulations, part as this place functions as a Federation Embassy, which mandates that you have a Marine Protective Detail. While you're here, they'll fall under Lieutenant Ja'xon until we can have a permanent Security Chief. Questions?"

Catherine shook her head

Ja'xon listened to everyone's input patiently and would take a couple of them up on their ideas, however no one offered up any fix to the issues he brought up. "One, two, or even twenty extra hands will not be enough." Ja'xon said, "On Starbase 900 we had a full Company consisting of over 300 Marines, currently we have 32, not including those in this room. We are in a desperate situation, we can afford to be caught off guard or unprepared. Again, I ask that we look for volunteers among our civilians. I have the full confidence in my ability to train them utilizing this base's facilities and our Marines as the instructors. There is a whole section dedicated for stationed Marines, including a number of holodecks and other training tools. I will reevaluate the need for officers."

He stopped for a moment, realizing that he may not be able to convince this group of this necessity. "What if I start small and conduct a proof of concept? Let me start with one platoon, approximately 40 volunteers. Then three months from now we can evaluate their effectiveness and then talk about increasing our numbers from there."

Chris nodded. "Do it. If you need facilities, contact the Gunny and she'll get you squared away.

Drew cast a quick glance around the room before settling his gaze on Christopher. "Sir, we still have the Charlie Hotel issue to address."

"Computer, deactivate all sensors in this room and seal all exits." Christopher said as he looked to each person at the table in turn. "We have another matter that's slightly more pressing. Please bear in mind that any information from this point forward is classified Level Ten. As some of you may know, we captured a Borg drone aboard the Zumwalt, designation Three of Eight. As he displayed no hostile intent at the time of capture, he was kept alive and imprisoned in line with Federation and intergalactic law. A short time ago, he requested asylum under the law and under my authority along with the counsel of Commander Knight, I granted it. He has shown remorse for his actions and we have acknowledged that he had no control over his actions during the attack. In the meantime, he's being temporarily detained in a holding cell until we can figure out what to do with him-" stopping for a moment, Chris took a drink of water from the glass next to him. "Now, I understand that this may be a hot button issue, which is why I'm asking each of you to keep it secret. Also, understand that he is not to be harmed. If I find out that anyone here has targeted him or has allowed him to be targeted, I will personally find a deep and dark hole on this base and drop you into it. Do I make myself clear?" Christopher asked, his tone sharp as a knife.

Cara became concerned as the room went into lock down and she sat more erect in her seat.

Ja'xon was the first to speak, "Has it been evaluated by our best engineers and medical staff? Even if this thing has regained its human consciousness, we need to be certain that its technological components are no longer communicating with the Borg Collective."

Ragnas, who has been quiet throughout the entire meeting finally heard something that caught his interest. "I would be more than willing to evaluate the drone from a science perspective." Realizing that these people had no idea what his background was, he quickly added, "I am an Alien Anthropologist by training. I'm wearing a red shirt, I know, long story. But I specialize in the study and understanding of Alien cultures and would very much be willing to work with Three of Eight's reintegration into our society. He is more than welcome to join my crew aboard the Hopper too."

Cara was shocked. She stared for several minutes, first at the General, then at Drew. She was a jumble of confused emotions. On one hand she had watched her Head Nurse sacrifice herself to save Cara when the Borg entered 900 and her close friend had been ripped away from her daughter by one of those things. The screams of those left behind as the doors of the Hopper closed still woke her up at night and left her huddling in her bed. But she was a physician and if....and it was a huge if...there was a chance the thing they referred to as 3 of 8 still had any of its humanity left she had an obligation to treat it. She realized she had doubled her hands up in fists and her nails were digging into the flesh of her palms. She bit her lip as she uncurled her fingers. "Since I am the senior physician," she said, her voice trembling. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath. "I have no choice but to exam it....him...whatever," she said, staring blankly over the General's shoulder so not to make eye contact.


Christopher raised his hands as if to quiet the room. "I understand that this is a hard concept for everyone to grasp but I need you to understand that if I would have ordered him killed, I would have been no different than the things that committed the atrocity that we witnessed three days ago. Yes, it's still fresh in all of our minds and the wounds that have been opened may never heal but remember this: Every single person in this room swore an oath to protect and defend those who could not do so for themselves and to obey the laws of the Federation. If I'm not mistaken, those laws prevent us from killing an unarmed prisoner. Now if anyone has a problem with his being here, have your resignations on my desk within the hour." His speech over, he looked over to Ragnas. "Now Commander, don't be too invasive. We don't how he'll react if you just go digging."


Looking to everyone and noticing their silence, Christopher looked down and then back up at the assembled staff. "You're all dismissed." and held his breath slightly as the team filed out. Releasing the air in his lungs in a sharp exhale when he found that he was alone, he sighed and slipped back down into the chair. "This is going to be one hell of a ride..." he said as he turned back to the PADD in his hand.


: OFF