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"One Catastrophe At A Time"
Previous post "Hollowed Ground"
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"Sometimes looking at the whole picture will only get you into more trouble. Focus on one catastrophe and take things one step at a time."
- Captain Seamus McTavish

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Setting: NEW ALEXANDRIA, Section C2, Level 3, Observation Walkway
Stardate: 30149.1020

Elan smiled as he gazed down upon the Human / Vulcan woman, her inner passion reminding the Oltharian of people he had long ago learnt to respect and admire.  As a Healer, Doctor T'Leia had already gained the giant's admiration, but as a person, she had in only a few minutes earned the Engineer's utmost and deepest respect.

Lieutenant Commander Fairborn had been ready to acknowledge and respond to the wisdom spoken by the Doctor when another officer came into view, drawing the attention of the two standing figures onto her.

"Captain Iverson," the Robotics Engineer offered in concern, the expression on the woman's face having been impossible to miss. "Is everything alright? You seem... troubled."

"Troubled!?" the black haired and grey eyed woman snarled back, anger clearly lacing her words.  "Let's just say that I am at my wits ends."

"Is there anything that I may be able to assist with?" the towering engineer offered, the giant always having been a kind and helpful individual no matter the situation.

"It's the medical bay on the BASTET," the Captain said with a lengthy sigh of despair. "The equipment as all been installed but was never calibrated.  When I went to see how everything was, I noticed that the main board displayed my having a blood pressure of 312," the woman explained, doing her very best to remain calm with little success.  "The majority of the medical and engineering staff assigned to my ship are currently busy getting ready for this blasted ball which is delaying the work.  I would have given it a second thought had I known that my *new* ship needed so much work before being able to be made ready for active duty."

"As I am currently waiting for the ANUBIS to return to NEW ALEXANDRIA," Andromeda said with the customary calmness of a Vulcan, "I am without any official duties and could use this time to help in the calibration of the medical instruments on board your vessel."

"If the Healer will permit, I would be happy to offer my engineering skills as well to assist in this task," the imposing Oltharian added making the grey eyed CO actually smile.

"You two are too kind, thank you."

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Setting: USS ANUBIS, Captain's Ready Room
Stardate: 30149.1100

The Native American sat at his desk, a steaming cup of Risian Tea resting next to a teetering pile of PADDs, each containing a report from one of the departments within the USS ANUBIS.  As a whole, the ship had emerged from their last adventure with little to show for, despite having been pulled into and back from another dimension.  Luckily, the conflict between the Akitashiinu and Yxidii had remained contained between the two races, leaving the SCARAB-Class Intel Cruiser to be nothing more than a spectator.  It was those who had gone to the moon's surface that had weathered the worst of this ordeal, and Captain Morningstar feared that the repercussions would be felt for quite some time.

The first and most significant of this had been the fact that Maya had officially stated her desire to step down as Executive Officer.  The position and responsibilities had been handed to her in acknowledgement of her skills and dedication, but the events which took place during their stay on the moon of PI ALPHA III had make it clear to the Shillian that command had not been something that she wanted to pursue further.

Erik could already hear the words of Counselor Dalziel in response to this, the Cardassian born woman likely stating that the responsibilities of command had not been meant for everyone, and that often those who believed themselves ready and able were all too frequently the wrong types to be holding such positions.  That Maya had recognized her weakness in that specific field had been a credit to her character, not a flaw.  In the end though the Native American had been left with a huge vacancy that would need to be filled before their next mission, and that was the problem.

Without anyone with the appropriate rank and experience on board the ANUBIS, a new Executive Officer would need to be assigned by Admiral Koniki.  As much as Morningstar trusted the aged man to make the best possible decision for the NEW ALEXANDRIA complex and the ships operating from within it, the Native American had been concerned as to whether or not the choice would actually be the best one for the ANUBIS and its crew.

The next issue faced by the Commanding Officer had been the sudden shift in focus of his Chief Medical Officer.  Doctor Doyanne had come across something of great interest to her in the bio-regenerative substance that had encased the Yxidii device which had been incorporated into the ancient machine.  Since the moment the CMO had begun her research on it, all official duties pertaining to Sickbay and its staff had been handed down to the Assistant Chief Medical officer, Ensign Seska Mizore.  Now, Erik did not see any issues with this other than the fact that it appeared that he had, for all intents and purposes, lost his lead Doctor.  At least this *catastrophe* had been easily enough dealt with and would not impact the crew as much as a new ExO should the Bajoran woman be officially given the position of CMO.

Next on the list had been the extensive list of materials and resources requested by Lieutenant Paquette, all of which had been meant in anticipation of the work for the building of replacements for the destroyed VIPER and SPHINX.  It was clear that the Engineering staff would see their time monopolized by these tasks which only made it that much more important for the ANUBIS to return to its base of operation.  At least there the resources and staff of the NEW ALEXANDRIA complex would come in handy to expedite the work allowing the ANUBIS to return to full operational status.

The extent of the work would of course depend on the condition of the equipment Ensigns Stark and Ya'Han, as well as their respective teams, would bring back from the moon's surface.  Hopefully the two department heads would be able to help reduce the amount of work that would fall onto the Chief Engineer's laps.

On the next PADD, the name of the ANUBIS' ILO appeared at the top, a reminder for him to insure that Ensign Shar'El would receive the proper support following what she had endured back on the moon's underground.  The repeated memory scans of the Akitashiinu and Yxidii as well as the memory scan of the ancient machine had held the potential to cause a great deal of damage to the woman's mind and psyche.  The last time Erik had seen the ILO, she had appeared rather incapacitated thanks to a rather unique debriefing method supervised by none other than the ship's CNS and CEO.

The Captain's thoughts were interrupted when the voice of the ship's Avatar came over the open comms channel.  =/\= Sorry Captain, but we are receiving an encoded priority-one message from Admiral Koniki. =/\=

Erik sighed, this was all he needed right now - another catastrophe.  "Put it through."

The face of the aged Admiral filled the small screen of the console which sat on the Captain's desk. [/\] Greetings Erik, just wanted to inform you that the ANUBIS and its crew are expected to be back at the barn by stardate 30151.1800.  The reason for this has been sent to you on a parallel carrier signal and should be in your computer now.  See you back home soon, Koniki out. [/\]

"Now what?" the Native American sighed not at all enjoying these games the Admiral seemed overly fond of from time to time.  As Erik looked up, he noticed that ANI, the ship's AVATAR had stepped into the Ready Room without having made a request or been granted access.

"My apologies Captain, but the instructions that were received from Admiral Koniki were very specific and clear," ANI explained as she handed a single black and white coloured PADD to the sitting Commanding Officer.  "I believe that you will find all of the information you require contained therein, but should you need more I would be happy to answer any questions that you might have."

Erik took the PADD somewhat reluctantly and began to read its content.

"Are you kidding me?"

"I doubt that Admiral Koniki meant for this to be humourous," the artificial woman replied without skipping a beat.

"He wants me to attend this?"

"Actually Captain, similar invitations were specifically addressed to each and every member of the Senior Staff.  It seems that Admiral Koniki wishes for everyone to be part of this ball," ANI explained not entire certain as to why the Native American had appeared so frustrated.  After all, given the stressful nature of their last mission, should it not have been a welcomed opportunity to attend what would most certainly be an enjoyable and relaxing event?

"One catastrophe at a time," Erik repeated to himself as he thought of the words spoken by one of his forcer COs, Captain Seamus McTavish. "One catastrophe at a time."

--==(/\)==--

Francois Charette

Captain Erik Morningstar
Commanding Officer
USS ANUBIS, NCC 18501

AND

Lt. Commander Elan Fairborn
Robotics Engineering Officer
NEW ALEXANDRIA