[BR] LtCmdr Tristam Core, "Good morning, Invicta."

[Deliera Jay]

((Core's quarters))

::He didn't sleep very well last night. Tossing and turning, trying his best to get more comfortable, trying to remember how to subconsciously block out the amount of noise he could hear. It wasn't a lot - just those within his telepathic range. His neighbors, those above and below him. At least his brain had the decency to start small before it went back to being part of the bigger leagues. It didn't stop the headache, though.

::He should have been careful for what he wished for. For years he'd wanted a permanent solution to his telepathy, a way to block it all out that didn't mean having to use an inhibitor - he refused one for several reasons, the most prominent being that it wasn't a permanent solution and would never be considered one. He hadn't remembered just how much pain he'd been every day prior to the accident, simply remembering being more cheery, having more positive thoughts despite the constant headache he'd had to deal with.

::On the other hand, it was a relief to have his brain fully functioning again. Stretching muscles he hadn't used in quite a while. And with the added bonus of having his speech back (not quite back to full power, apparently, though his stumble when talking with Roshanara last night could have been easily attributed to being absolutely smack-down tired and beyond the point of caffeine having any effect for him), things were looking up for Tristam Daneil Core.::

Core: Time.

Computer: 0900 hours and twelve seconds.

::It wasn't for a lack of trying to sleep in until 1000 hours, that's for sure. He sighed, hauling himself upwards and rubbed his eyes. Things to do today?

::. . . yep.

::Well, first things first, he should probably get up, send a message to home saying he's fine. This whole "can't say anything" fiasco had him avoiding calls and it's likely his father was going crazy freaking out-::

Loupaz: =/\= Loupaz to Core. =/\=

::Hmm. News about his return of speech must have traveled quickly otherwise his petty officer-turned-personal assistant wouldn't be calling him.::

Core: =/\= Here. =/\=

Loupaz: =/\= We docked at Astrofori One last night, and there's no on on the Bridge for work - no senior staff *thank the gods* - and . . . um . . . You'd better get down here, sir. =/\=

::Tristam frowned. He hadn't been reinstated yet, so what could have been so urgent that only *he* could deal with it? Who was senior officer in Engineering right now? Dara, surely, but ensign counted as senior staff, and Loupaz had already stated that none of the SS were there.::

((Bridge))

Core: Oh *Artist*. You've *got* to be kidding me!

::Having dressed rather quickly to answer Loupaz's rather frantic call, Tristam now found himself on the Bridge, eyes wide at the sudden lack of a rather vital piece.

::The briefing table was gone.::

Loupaz: Yeah.

::He turned to her, motioning towards the empty space on the currently empty Bridge.::

Core: I'm on leave - this isn't my problem!

Loupaz: Maybe not, but you're the only one who I know actually has contacts in the ETP.

Core: And what makes you think it's *there*!?

Loupaz: Oh, I don't know - one of a kind Bridge briefing table goes missing during a slew of ship repairs doesn't sound suspicious at all?

::Tristam groaned. The Engineer's Trading Post (ETP for short) a so-called "secret community" of overly-helpful engineers and Operations officers. Founded by some young Ferengi ensign way back when, it is, in simple terms, a place for trading ship parts for other ship parts - or, at least, that's how it's described on the record. Off the record, it's more of a "we'll take your ship parts for stuff you'll enjoy for a little while as a thank you". The end result is that both parties are happy - one with a part they desperately needed, the other with a story to tell with holographic evidence. Perhaps it was that reason why many tried to keep this "community" off the radars of officials and captains?

::But yes. This Rodulan engineer held contacts within said community - mainly due to being a big contributor back when he was an Ops officer on Deep Space 17. After the repairs from the Vaadwaur occupation were finally complete, there was plenty of bits and pieces that command was willing to turn a blind eye to (so long as they went to Starfleet vessels - and most of them did, except for those few select ships - all of which flew under the Federation banner, so he saw no harm), which meant that Tristam got a lot of favours. Hell, he was *still* owed a few. And as Angeline had pointed out, it made sense that it was the Bridge's briefing table that fell victim to this trade; there weren't many Starfleet ships that had said table on a Bridge, so it was certainly rare thing to see.

::It wouldn't surprise him if Rahman also held contacts within the ETP, though from Loupaz's point of view, going to the First Officer with the news that the briefing table from the Bridge was missing after only having been commissioned a mere few weeks ago probably wasn't the best career move.::

::He gave a huff, arms on his hips as he leant forward slightly in thought. He hadn't been in the loop for the Invicta's repair list - though with the Q messing about with everything and everyone, there was bound to be some issues with not only staff mentality but the Invicta's systems. Problems with repairs were always going to occur after a rather stressful mission, even if the main crew hadn't been involved. Stress was contagious.::

Core: I don't suppose you might know what it's been swapped for?

::That information could narrow down the list of people he had to call. If all went well, and if he was extremely lucky and the Artist was watching his back, the table would still be on Astro-1. Worst case scenario, however, it got swapped and sent to a starship with a slipstream drive, meaning that it could probably be half-way across the quadrant by now.

::Oh he hoped this wasn't a worst case scenario.::

Loupaz: No. But I'll get a list of repairs over the last 24 hours.

Core: Yeah. Let me know what you find - it'll narrow down the amount of people I have to talk to.

Loupaz: What do I do in the meantime? The last thing any of us really need is for the Captain to find out we're missing the Bridge's main feature.

::She had a point there. While Kells might be a bit forgiving, Rahman wouldn't. Though Tristam considered himself lucky that it wasn't one of the consoles that went missing - the couch consoles were quite possibly her favourite part of this Bridge.::

Core: Holoproject a temporary one. Lock the Bridge down while you go to get it, claim electrical fault in all terminals or something, and then reopen after it's set up and fool-proof. ::He turned and walked into the turbolift.:: If anyone asks, tell them to call me. We need that table back.

Loupaz: You just said you're not Chief Engineer!

Core: Maybe not, but I'm still a heckler for repairs.

::And as the doors to the turbolift closed, Tristam rubbed his temple, fighting away the headache. The first person on his list to call was his ex-girlfriend. If there was a missing Cardiff class briefing table on Astrofori-1, chances are Sanchez would know about it.::


Tbc . . .

LtCmdr Tristam Core
Med-LOA
USS Invicta