Ensign Imril - Breaking The Rules With The Rules
Chris Taylor
(( Outside Water Treatment Plant - Outskirts of the Bantlox Colony, Laoi III ))
Imril: Sirs.. How long can a Changeling survive away from the Great Link?
Silveira: Good question… I don’t think they can last very long… Do you know Doc?
Kyle shrugged.
Morgan: I don’t know much about Changelings, aside from the ones we observed during Frontier Day. I know that the one who lived on DS9 was able to live for years outside the Link as long as he was able to revert to his natural form regularly…
Imril nodded and turned back to Silveira. Who was looking at the ground with particular interest.
Silveira: Interesting… It feels like this has been down for… a few decades… ::he pointed to the half excavated part of the wreckage.:: The sedimentation here… Looks like something that took decades to settle… But we can’t be sure without a tricorder. ::He shook his head and stood up looking at Imril:: Have you found something Ensign?
Imril couldn’t speak to the forensics of soil and stone, but was glad someone could. Especially since their tricorder was now entirely awash with static. But their eyes had given them something to move towards; a suspicious looking spot on the hull where the dirt seems to be clinging more tenaciously . They gingerly scuffed their boot, and knocked a thick chunk away from the circular hole it was rooted into. Revealing a fifteen-centimeter-wide bar just big enough for a Jem’Hadar warrior’s scaly hand. And right out of the reading they’d done on the shuttle.
Imril: Looks like a manual hatch release. If this is a way in, there will be a second one nearby, but too far away from this one for a single person to use them both. Starfleet Marine Command’s was this.... In the event that a Vorta decided to bunker up inside the ship with all of the Ketricil White, like maybe to save themselves from a battle going badly, or from the Jem’Hadar fighting it, The Jem’Hadar needed a reliable means to get back into the ship. One that the Vorta couldn't countermand through the computer. But the releases are separated so that a Jem’Hadar in withdrawal can’t force their way in and wreck the ship or the White supply trying to kill the Vorta. Two or more Jem’Hadar in withdrawal would be too busy killing each other to try.
Morgan looked to Silveira and offered a child-like smirk.
Morgan: Seems like we should go in…
Silveira: Well, it looks like we have to reach the Boss.
Imril: That would be best, I think.
Silveira nodded and tapped his combadge.
Silveira: =/\= Silveira to Doctor Sadar
A string of static came through the open line. After a moment, he tried again.
Silveira: =/\= Silveira to Doctor Sadar
The result was pretty much the same. He shrugged and went for it again.
Silveira: =/\= Silveira to Doctor Sadar, please respond…
It worked but there was a lot of interference.
Sadar: =/\= Response
Silveira raised his voice.
Silveira: =/\= It’s hard to understand you. I have a hunch this ship is older, but until we get inside we can’t be sure. I am considering going in. Please advise
Imril did not speak, as their voice would only add to the noise that the trio would have to struggle through to hear the Doctor’s comments. But the very fact that they couldn't reach Sadar reliably brought an option to mind. One which they didn’t particularly enjoy.
Sadar: =/\= Response
Kyle’s brow furrowed at the lack of a clear response and then shrugged.
Morgan: I think we should go in.
Imril: I have to admit, we can’t get the answers we need out here.
Silveira: response.
Morgan rolled his eyes and sighed.
Morgan: Oh come on, how mad could she possibly be? And if this thing is as old as you say it is, I’m sure there’s nothing alive or surprising down there by now.
Silveira: reponse
Morgan raised an eyebrow and smirked slightly.
Morgan: You’re not scared of Sadar, are ya, Chicken?
Imril: I’m a little concerned about violating the direct orders of the team leader, yes. I only have one pip to hide behind when we come back out.
While Doctor Sadar may not directly reprimand Imril, it would still be a smudge on their record that could come back to bite them on the butt down the line. Or another ‘free pass’ to add to a pile that was already getting too big for Imril’s liking.
Silveira/ Morgan: response
And this was where Imril’s not-so-pleasant idea came in.
Imril: ::guilty grimace:: However… Given that we’re dealing with what may as well be an undetonated mine, and effectively out of communication with the away team leader, there is a regulation which would support a tactical officer of equal rank asserting emergency leadership here.
Silveira/ Morgan: response
Imril: Starfleet Away Team Guidelines, Section 10, Paragraph 5. In the event of, well, pretty much all of this, we defer to the Hostile Ordinance Protocols. Which would put the decision-making power in Lt. Silveira’s hands.
It felt like a dirty trick, using the rules to get what one wanted or felt was necessary. Doctor Sadar didn’t deserve to be cut out of the decision making process like this. But if the ship was putting out an interference signal that hadn’t been there before, then it was already responding to being discovered. Time was a precious commodity.
Silveira/ Morgan: response
Imril: Both releases will be manufactured for someone of Jem’Hadar strength to open. I’ll go through that equipment pile over there and find something we can use for levers. And to jam the hatch open.
The ensign headed for the collection of construction gear and parts which had been abandoned when the piping project ground to a halt.
Silveira/ Morgan: response
Tag, and TBC!
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Ensign Imril
Engineering Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240110I1