Lt Alex Storm - The Measure of a Threat
Karen Morris
((USS Artemis-A, deck 8, Chief Tactical Officer office))
Being summoned to the CTO’s office wasn’t an abnormal event. She and Sil had talked things over on numerous occasions. So when she got the call, despite the fact that she was missing lunch, she didn’t think overly much of it.
But now that she was sitting here, listening to Sil’s thoughts and assignments for them, she stared at Sil. He was supposed to have been treated - along with any of the others who went through the transporter - especially those who went through multiple times.
Something still felt off.
Unusual orders.
Multiple overwhelming assignments.
Was he testing them?
Was she failing?
Not if she could help it.
Storm: I’m sure if Cole and I put our heads together, we can come up with something for you. oO Eventually Oo Whatcha think Nat?
Cole: Oh absolutely. We’ve got this.
Vitor leaned back, a smile on his face.
Silveira: I know you will, otherwise I wouldn’t have asked it.
Storm: Funny thing is, Nat and I were already batting around a boarding drill idea. ::Turning to look at Cole:: Do you want to give him the broad strokes on it?
Cole: ::leaning forward:: How familiar are you with old Appalachian folklore, Sir?
Leaning forward was a good thing.
Silveira: Not much.
Cole: There’s a recurring idea in some of those stories about things that look familiar enough to get close, but wrong enough to unsettle you once they do. Mimics, changelings, skinwalker-type entities… not a one-to-one mythological recreation, but the concept works.
Storm: Can you imagine the chaos it could potentially create?
A sensation tickled the back of Alex’s mind. A familiar one … but one she hadn’t felt for a while - at least not from Sil.
Cole: The exercise would start with the Artemis responding to a distress call. We recover what appear to be survivors and bring them aboard. Once they’re on the ship, it becomes clear they aren’t who they claim to be.
Alex mentally replayed their earlier discussion. If Sil had warned her, she would have brought the PADD with the notes she and Nat had already prepared.
Cole: The boarding entities that imitate crew well enough to sow distrust and hesitation. Their goal would be to partition the ship, isolate critical departments, and seize control of key systems … bridge, engineering, sickbay, security, maybe tactical depending on how we structure it.
Alex’s eyes drifted back to Sil. The emotions he was feeling were so intense that she could almost smell them. Sil’s unease continued to grow. Her eyes slipped sideways to Nat. Should she stop the JayGee?
Silveira: Sadly that’s kind of a familiar setting, but please carry on.
While trying to be unobtrusive in her study of Sil, she caught him nodding at her. She gave him a single tip of her head in acknowledgment.
Difficult memories. Sealed, but not completely healed, wounds from the past. She was surprised his expression could remain as neutral, though serious, as it was. No grimaces, no brows knitting together, none of his usual tells.
Storm: If you’ve actually experienced something like this before, it’s not a scenario outside of plausibility.
Cole: What makes it useful is that it’s not just about firing on hostiles. It tests whether Security and Tactical can coordinate when the threat looks familiar, whether Operations can recover systems under pressure, whether Medical can manage casualties and verification, and whether the crew can function when they can’t fully trust what they’re seeing.
Cole: Ideally, the scenario forces people to think before they react, but not so long they freeze. We’d want the crew split into sections, communications degraded or intermittent, and enough unknowns built in that they can’t solve it by memorizing the pattern.
He leaned back, his tone bringing a sober quality to the conversation.
Silveira: Sounds interesting. ::he turned to Alex:: What do you think, Lieutenant?
Storm: I think it’s a tender subject, and we didn’t know we’d be touching on a nerve. But the scenario is sound and does test everything you want us to. It would test the crew’s ability to make quick judgments and act on them in a split second.
Thoughts flashed across his face.
Times past.
Gentle moments.
Horrible decisions.
Still tender wounds.
Silveira: As I said that’s very familiar and hits too close to the heart…. Literally…
I have been doing this for some time now and I have faced more than my share of… Things.
Storm: Would you prefer that we work up another scenario?
Cole: Response
Silveira: But the idea has merit and you can both work on it. I want one thing to be added, space battle. It’s only a proper drill if we get to do everything. So flesh it out, but again take your time with it. Once ready we can review it and I will propose it to the Captain.
Alex turned in her seat to face Cole.
The two of them worked together well and had a sense of camaraderie outside of work. If anyone could pull this off, the two of them could.
Storm: I’m sure we can work out the rest of the details. But only if you’re sure about this …
“Sil” almost slipped out, but she caught herself in time.
Storm: … Commander.
Cole: Response
Silveira: Look it was complicated and I don’t want to go into that. Lieutenant Cole I am not shutting down your proposal because it brings back trauma to some of us. My command style and I will dare say it’s quality derives from that. ::he tensed slightly and straightened himself:: Commanding by example and through experience. ::his forehead frowned as he spoke:: Years and years of experience facing Q, doppelgangers from other universes, Klingon, Ferengi, Iconians, Suliban, Borg…
That’s why I know holding a cricket in your boots can go pretty bad and start a diplomatic incident that takes months to solve. That’s why I know we all risk too much and we need to be more careful and have some sort of safety course…
That’s a lot of ghosts in one sentence.
The tip of Alex’s right ring finger tapped on the armrest of her chair as she assessed Sil. She wasn’t a counselor, but being a Betazoid, if anyone was giving off strong emotions, they rippled across the air like waves in an ocean, and she, like a buoy, felt their constant highs and lows as each wave washed against her spirit.
Silveira: Sorry, I didn’t meant to lecture any of you… Just some dark memories that passed my eyes…
Alex gave a nod. She had things to say, but not in front of Nat. They’d keep until later.
Alex half-smiled.
Storm: Damn funny things, memories. They can be quite a two-edged sword, huh?
Cole: Response
Storm: Okay. So, short-term, you want us to work on a threat assessment. My only question on that is you said you want us to bring medical and counseling in on that. How does that work with annual physicals and psych evals? Do we just use those, or do we need to double down on those even if one was just done?
Cole/Silveira: Response
Storm: Okay. We’ll make sure we loop that into our planning. Once that’s completed, you want us to finalize the ship-wide training scenario, making sure that we include a space battle as a part of it. Will this be carried out shipwide or on the holodeck? If it’s shipwide and we’re using doppelgangers, that might prove more difficult. Could we use a holodeck on DS 224 and run it in cycles until we get the entire crew through?
Cole/Silveira: Response
Alex picked up her PADD from her lap and jotted the additional notes into it, taking her time before looking up.
Storm: You’ve given us both quite an assignment, Commander. But I think we’re both up to the task and make a good team.
Cole/Silveira: Response
~*~
Tags / TBC!
~*~
Lt Alex Storm
Tactical Officer
USS Artemis
O240103SK2