Lt Imril - From Hell's Heart, I ... LINE!

[Chris Taylor]

(( USS Artemis-A, deck 1, Bridge ))

Silveira: All hands... Red alert. Helm full impulse intercept course on the Nascalk fire line.. Set the Artemis between them so we take the hits. Lieutenant Bergmen open a hailing frequency. Lieutenant Imril, whatever you have to do to speed things up do it, but get Engineering ready. Secretary Jetripar... Well, you're a politician so the closest thing I have to a diplomat. Give me some idea on how to deal with the Nascaik. that doesn't involve then firing on the Afalqi or delivering you to them.

Jetripar: Allow me to think on it, Commander.

Bergmen: I’m trying, sir.

Imril: The virus might be wobbly enough now that I can afford to overclock the Computer Core's bilingual gelpacks to drive up the processing speed. We might lose some of them to burnout, though.

And with them, processing power for other computer functions which the ship might soon need to perform. But they were already utilizing around fifteen percent of the Artemis’ collective computer capacity just to fight the virus. So even some loss would be a net gain.

They went ahead and did it anyway. Adding along the way a fresh order to Main Engineering to prepare replacement gelpacks.

Silveira: Set us in position and power down shields and weapons.

Jetripar: Those murderous barbarians will take me!

Bergmen: ::confused:: Sir?

Imril could only guess, or try to convince themself, that Vitor knew something about Nascaiks that they didn’t. Something that would make them see this act of his as something they would respect.

Imril: Firewall breached. I’m in.

“I’m in.” Words that hackers loved to say. Imril typed faster than ever before, racing to the beast’s innermost code. Swatting aside or side-stepping efforts made to rebuke them. Looting executable files that could be rewritten and lobbed back against an enemy which was now firmly on the back foot.

Silvera: Send this message and the data regarding the virus to the Nascaik ships =/\= This is Commander Silveira from the USS Artemis, we are here to help. I assume you're also suffering the effects of the Virus, and are placing ourselves in your fire line to prevent any loss of life as we keep working on a solution. Please just give us a little more time. Thank you =/\=

Ollie nodded and sent the message, but no answer was forthcoming.

Silveira: If they are being affected maybe the Virus won't attack us. If they were in control and firing on the Afalqi hopefully they would stop, with us in their way.

Jetripar: I certainly hope you're right, Commander…

At least no one was shooting. Yet.

Bergmen: They didn’t open a channel to any of our hails, by us or virus, so they, with high probability, are not infected and in control.

Imril threw their head back in visible joy. Lips pursed to hold back their excitement.

Imril: I’ve cracked it. Viral quarantine in progress.

There was no response. No attack either. Only silent ships hanging in space like ornaments.

Jetripar: Allow me to speak with them. This is, after all, an idealogical battle as much as anything. This is my realm.

Bergmen: We can try, sir. They can receive, but just decided not to listen to us…

Imril allowed themself a brief smile of victory. They’d bested the virus, but the situation wasn’t over until the and the away teams safely aboard the Artemis once more.

Imril: The virus is locked down. Purging now. Sending a copy of the final anti-virus program to Bergmen’s station for transmission. 

Silvera: response

Jetripar to took a position at the front of the viewscreen, and Ollie opened the channel.

Jetripar: Good Nascaik people, I stand before you..

The Da’al barely had the chance to complete his first sentence when he was suddenly swept away by a transporter beam. 

Bergmen: They raised their shields and hold their target lock on us. Weapons energized. ::turns to Silveira:: Sir, they are calling us.

Imril pointed an authoritative finger to the individual manning one of the science stations. And then pointed to one of the panels on the wall near her.

Imril: Crewman! Transport inhibitors!

Imril bolted from their seat to reach another panel on the other side of the bridge. As they passed the Security station, the officer there was already spouting orders that would secure the rest of the ship from any more surprise beamings. 

Imril opened the panel, thin and tall, and pulled a half-meter rod as far out as its support beams would let it. Then slammed a button on its lower third. Three thin pieces of metal rose from the sides, forming an angular flower which began glowing with blue light. The blueshirt did likewise.

Silvera: Response

The viewscreen flashed with the face of Nascaik they hadn’t seen before.

Nascaik: =/\= The Da’al criminal has been taken, in accordance with Nascalk law. He will be held until his crime may be covered by another. =/\=

Ollie dove into a new series of commands.

Closer to the front of the bridge, Imril and the crewman each activated another inhibitor each, completing the circuit. The bridge, for the moment, was safe from further abductions.

The inhibitors, which had to be hand-activated in order to prevent remote tampering, had been installed during the Artemis’ overhaul months back after Galaris IV. And some people had wanted to put in a disco ball instead…

Silvera: response

Bergmen: Antivirus sent and received, sir.

Imril: ::returning to their station:: =/\= Imril to Transporter Room 1. Secretary Jetripar has been beamed to the Nascaik flagship. Get a transporter lock and standby for emergency beaming. =/\=

Well, they were assuming it was the flagship.

Transporter Operator: =/\= Aye, Sir. =/\=

Silvera/Jetripar: Response

Bergmen: Ehm, the problem is not our side, sir. (beat) We are on hold.

As the others spoke, Imril quietly received and answered a hail from the Transporter Room. 

Silvera/Jetripar/Bergmen: Response

Imril: ::quietly:: Commander, Transporter Room One reports that they can’t get a lock on Jetripar. The Nascaik ship has erected its own inhibitor signal.

This, in addition to having already raised their shields. It made a kind of sense that a people so dedicated to punishing lawbreakers would take extraordinary efforts to secure their prisoners.

Silvera/Jetripar/Bergmen: Response

Imril: ::Quietly:: I had the Transporter room send me its scan of the signal for analysis. On the up-side, I can confirm that the virus has been completely expunged from the Artemis. I’ll start deleting my sim generators to clear up processing speed to work the new problem.

Just to be on the safe side, Imril kept the bridge’s copy of the sim generator around in case there came a sudden revival on the virus’ part. With it, programmers logs enough for after-action dissection of the virus. That which had been used to cripple the Artemis might one day be turned against an adversary.

With the deletion in process, Imril turned to the section of the Engineering screen which was now dedicated to inhibitor signal wave patterns.

Silvera/Jetripar/Bergmen: Response

TAG/TBC

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Lieutenant Imril

Engineering Officer

USS Artemis-A

A240110I12