Lieutenant JG Christopher Caldwell: The Moral Dimension
Chris M
((Main Bridge, Deck 1, USS Astraeus))
Tam: ELIMINATE ALL UNASSIMILATED. ELIMINATE ALL UNASSIMILATED. ELIMINATE ALL UNASSIMILATED.
oO Great I think I pissed her off. Oo
Caldwell: Level 3's no good!
Rosek-Skyfire: Increase to level 5!
He reluctantly increased the power, changing the setting to level 5, enough to penetrate a low level forcefield and enough to deliver a serious wound but not necessarily a fatal one. He shifted his aim, looking for a limb.
oO I really don't want to have to kill her. Oo
Rosek-Skyfire: ::grits her teeth:: Caldwell! Get your head in the game! Get an angle and fire!
It took a considerable amount of self restraint not to reply with the first words that came to mind. Much of the language that he wanted to make use of was laced with many colourful metaphors that he assumed Lael wouldn't appreciate.
oO Non-action has repercussions, just as action does. Oo
The opening of his favourite James T. Kirk quote was very much prevalent in his mind right now.
oO Sometimes a rash decision now is better than a thoughtful one five minutes from now. Oo
They were words he tended to live by, he hated what he felt was risk taking by other officers for delaying or entirely avoiding making hard decisions by instead wasting time trying to find a perfect solution to a problem when something could be done now. In his admittedly limited experience, it was something far too prevalent within Starfleet, allowing perfect to be the enemy of good. Countless situations encountered by Starfleet crews could have been avoided or the impacts mitigated had swift and decisive action been taken instead of hesitating and delaying and often doing nothing but allowing an issue to get worse. He had promised himself that he wouldn't make such mistakes, that when action was needed he would take it without hesitation no matter the cost.
He knew what needed to be done, he had to shoot Tam, he wouldn't be able to stun her, he had to kill her. If he didn't she would kill everyone on the Bridge. It was a simple choice.
oO There's too many people I'd be firing across, if my aim is off or one of them moves unexpectedly I'd risk hitting them. Oo
He had achieved grade A for 'TAC110 - Combat, Small Weapons', 'TAC210 - Combat, Marksmanship' and 'ARM110 - Hand Phasers, Phaser Rifles and Artillery' whilst at the Academy. About the only thing he was really good at during his time at the Academy was shooting things and with his security training he would have probably been expected to score a clean hit on Tam in her current position if he was taking the shot from the Tycho City.
He didn't even know Tam that well, he'd spoken to her, no more than a handful of times, they weren't close. So what was the issue?
oO The issue is, whilst you could probably kill Tam right here and right now, there might be another solution where no one needs to die. Oo
He took a moment to assess the scene. Tam was a security officer, before that she had military experience, as such it was safe to assume she was a very good shot, being possessed by the Borg, or whatever this was, probably only further enhanced her aim. Despite that, if there was anything of Tam still in there she would be doing what she could to avoid hurting her crewmates, Mei'konda and Rosek-Skyfire were in cover and were safe for the immediate future, for the moment it was the two of them that Tam was focused on.
oO So if they just stay down using their chairs and the tactical station as cover, and if she stays focused on them then there's still time. If she switches targets or repositions to where she can get a clean shot on them, then I can get her first. Oo
Yes he could act now but if he did Tam would be dead, if he stayed his hand, keeping that option available if needed, he, or perhaps more likely someone else, might be able to find another way.
Caldwell: Stay in cover! We're not out of options yet, stay down and stay safe and we don't have to kill her!
He started to advance up the ramp and towards Tam.
Matthews: Sir. We need to do something.
He was struggling to think of immediately accessible options. He considered whether blowing out the Bridge emergency hatch could be a viable option but then if he wanted to have Tam sucked out into space then he might as well just shoot her, would be kinder but the end result would be the same.
oO Nope, that's no good. Oo
Rosek-Skyfire: ::shouts:: I’m pinned! If anyone has a better angle, take it!
Tasen: Y-yes sir!
Forcefield? He started looking at drawing an imaginary line across the Bridge that would isolate Tam but not trap any of the Bridge crew. Then he remembered it was possible to create a more localised circular field from one of the ceiling emitters.
oO That might contain her but we would still have a Borg on the bridge so how to safely incapacitate her? Oo
Wait, I've got it!
Caldwell: Forcefield? Could we flood it with anesthizine or neurozine?
He knew enough from his First Aid and Field Medicine course, as well as his security training, that both anesthetics could be administered as a gas through the environmental system. Both were fast acting and were effective in incapacitating most humanoids at very low concentrations.
As a Barzan, Tam made use of a breathing apparatus to provide her with gases from her homeworld, gasses which were toxic to a number of other species and hence why they weren't part of the normal ship atmosphere. He didn't see that as being a barrier to his plan but didn't know enough about Barzan physiology to know what, if any, impact it would have on the effectiveness of either anesthetic.
oO Then there's also any nanoprobes in her system. Oo
Whilst they couldn't just outright alter her entire respiratory system, certainly not within a couple of minutes anyway, they might be able to exert sufficient influence over her endocrine system to put up a decent fight against being an anesthetic.
oO Would just have to dose her up real good. Oo
Matthews: Sir, honestly, I’m tempted to just rush her and take the chance if it means someone else can get a good shot at her. ::pause:: If we can get near enough, we might be able to disarm her. Otherwise, we’re stuck here.
Personally he thought his idea was better, the Borg made use of nanoprobes, incredibly efficient microscopic machines, coming into physical contact with a Borg risked being contaminated with the nasty nanites and in turn potentially being assimilated yourself.
oO Basic brain surgery I could just about do Charles, microcellular surgery is definitely beyond me... unless you can get rid of nanoprobes with a big magnet? No that would be a rubbish weakness plus they'd have to find a way out to get to the magnet which might sting a bit. Oo
Mei’konda: Stay low! Use the arch as cover! And whoever can reaach the controls, ready the transporters!
oO Oh yeah, or we could just use the transporters. Oo
Whilst a proper Borg drone had implants which could seemingly be used to disrupt normal transporter operations, an effective countermeasure to being able to simply beaming invading Borg drones off into space, Tam was not a Borg drone.
oO At least not yet. Oo
It therefore stood to reason that she would have no effective means of evading a transporter lock or disrupting a transporter signal. That was an assumption of course but it seemed to make sense.
Matthews: To what end, Captain? For us to beam away or for us to beam her away? We can’t let a Borg have the Bridge. And we need to know what else is going on elsewhere, internally and externally.
Mei’konda: Lieutenant! We do not have the tiime for this conversaation! I’ll go for a panel, Tasen, you do the saame! One of us will be aable to lock on to her! Matthews, Caldwell, you and Rosek distraact her! If we can lock on, we will beaam her to an empty cargo bay!
oO What did I say? Oh wait he's responding to Charles. Oo
By this point, he felt he was getting regularly yelled at by more senior officers. It felt quite nice to see someone else being on the receiving end of it for a change.
oO Speaking of, Lael did order me to incapacitate Divya so no doubt I'll be hearing more about that later. Oo
Rosek-Skyfire: Everyone, lay down cover fire! Don’t hit her if you can avoid it!
oO Wait? Don't hit her? You're kidding me right? A moment ago I was meant to be blasting a hole clean through her. Good thing I didn't. Maybe I won't get in trouble after all, or maybe I will but it will be for something different. Oo
He lowered the level of his phaser, minimising the damage he would do to anything he did strike whilst also ensuring that if he did actually hit Tam he wouldn't do any fatal damage.
Matthews: Aye, Sir(!)
Tasen: To a cargo bay… yes sir!
oO Wait... if we beam her to a cargo bay then what's to stop... Oo
Caldwell: Don't forget to disable the cargo bay transporter afterwards!
Lieutenant JG Christopher Caldwell
Helm Officer
USS Astraeus, NCC-70652
A240101CC1