Capt. Lia Rouiancet: Small Steps

[Tony Colella]

(( Bridge, Deck 1, USS Octavia E. Butler ))

To Lia's genuine delight, the Kevara Continuance had agreed to return at least limited control to the Butler's crew. To that end, she, Lhandon, and Varik returned to the bridge, and she relieved Ensign Brirr, who had been standing watch (inasmuch as it mattered) for the skeleton bridge crew. Lia resumed her usual seat, and Lhandon took the seat at her right.

Kevara Continuance: Notification: Bridge station authority restored to assigned personnel. Helm, ops, tactical, and command routing returned to local inputs. My processes remain resident. Parallel execution mode active.

Varik: Helm controls are responding, Captain.

Nilsen: (a nod) Good. 

Rouiancet: We appreciate the show of good faith, Continuance.

Small steps. Lia was certain that, if necessary, they could signal for assistance from other Starfleet ships or other allies in the region and then remove the Continuance by force -- but, again, she hoped it wouldn't come to that. An alliance following the Continuance's willing withdrawal from ship systems was a much more desirable outcome. The Continuance, however, was quick to clarify its position. 

Kevara Continuance: Clarification: This is not withdrawal. Integration remains. Override remains. The difference is visibility: you will see the boundary conditions before you collide with them.

Varik: How will those boundary conditions be presented? 

Kevara Continuance: Directive: Override triggers are now published to your command staff and logged in your ship records. Trigger set includes: (1) projected loss exceeds threshold; (2) intervention window collapses below margin; (3) command paralysis exceeds latency ceiling; (4) hostile action against my integration is detected; (5) deliberate withholding of capability under policy conflict while loss is imminent. Clarification: When a trigger activates, I will seize execution authority without further debate. When triggers are inactive, you retain execution authority. All overrides will generate a reviewable after-action record.

Ah, well, small steps. An ironic echo, this time. Lia hadn't been certain how right she was when she'd congratulated herself on their progress a short minute before.

Rouiancet: We will work within those constraints.

As long as they had to, which was to say that Lia was not yet ready to continue to force the issue, not after this set of concessions. They could negotiate their way out of the Continuance's control, she was sure of it.

Varik: I am noticing a latency in system responsiveness. Are you detecting it as well, Commander? 

Nilsen: I am. Kevara Continuance, questions: Are you able to do anything about this latency? And what are the exact thresholds for override triggers? 

Kevara Continuance: Response

Varik: I will continue to monitor the latency.

Nilsen: Do that. 

Varik: Orders, Captain?

That was a very good question. It was one thing to work toward regaining the ability to operate the ship on their own, but now that they'd achieved that, Lia found herself more uncertain than she'd expected. The Continuance had, in fact, achieved their mission objectives -- survey of the Tlugani Nebula, participation in the aid mission to the Danni -- and had extended them reasonably -- rendering further aid to a stranded vessel in the nebula, reorganizing the Danni aid missions for greater efficiency, and now addressing a planetary crisis on Valaria III. It was, Lia reflected, not too dissimilar from an emergency command scenario (and, again, an ironic echo of the type of scenarios that she, Wes, Kimonzi, and Forsyth had been planning for prior to the Continuance's arrival) -- except that it wasn't really an emergency. However, they still had plenty of irons in the fire.

Rouiancet: Let's check in with all our teams -- the planetside teams, Colonel Greaves' team, everyone aboard -- both to see how they're doing, and to apprise them of our situation.

She hoped that the Continuance was paying attention, not only to the decision she'd made, but how she'd explained it. She wanted her officers to know why she gave her orders.

Nilsen: Aye, sir. 

Kevara Continuance: Response

Nilsen: =/\= All hands, this Lieutenant Commander Lhandon Nilsen; the Kevara Continuance is cooperating with us. Report any latency in our systems. =/\=

There were no immediate responses, which Lia took for a good sign.

Rouiancet: Thank you, Lhandon. Varik, please dispatch a request for update to Commander Richards' team, and then move us to a position more favorable for low-latency comms with the colonel's team.

Varik: Response

Kevara Continuance: Response 

Nilsen: Very well…let us go and deal with that, you’ve got the course, Lieutenant?

Lhandon looked over at her, for what she assumed was some subtle feedback that this was the right course. And, yes, she nodded, because she was very happy with how both he and Varik had handled themselves (and continued to handle themselves) in the negotiations. But if he meant more largely, if they were indeed doing the right thing...? Well, she certainly thought that it was, and intended to pursue it to its end, but beyond that, she could only nod reassurance, both to him and to herself, that this was correct.

Varik: Response

Kevara Continuance: Response

The Butler was already on its way out of Valaria III's orbit and, in short order, they'd arrived at the edge of the supernova remnant, which filled a very, very large volume of space. Lhandon rose and moved to the science station as they arrived. This particular edge of Tlugani looked, to Lia's eye, like a slow, diffuse thunderstorm. Relaxing, she thought. 

Nilsen: There’s no one here, but if left unchecked, this part of the nebula could expand to hinder warp travel. It will affect the route from Esh-o to Koreli.

Hmm. Less relaxing, then.

Rouiancet: What other effects will it have on our systems?

Nilsen/Varik: Responses 

Kevara Continuance: Response

Rouiancet: Very well. Lieutenant, be careful, but bring us to an optimal position to contact Colonel Greaves. Commander, gather whatever additional data seems germane. Continuance...

It seemed strange to issue an order to the Continuance, which now seemed somewhere between captor and collaborator. Certainly not subordinate, and Lia tailored her request accordingly.

Rouiancet: Could you please provide an update on shipboard activities?

She very intentionally did not meet Lhandon's or Varik's eyes at that request. Toxin, Kimonzi, and Forsyth had been -- and likely still were -- investigating less consensual ways of removing the Continuance from their systems. The Continuance was in full knowledge of these attempts, Lia assumed, which meant that she was also curious regarding how it would report on them -- and how that would affect what they were doing here, these ongoing negotiations and -- was it ridiculous to think this way? -- the Continuance's Starfleet work-study.

Nilsen/Varik: Responses 

Kevara Continuance: Response

Tags! and TBC!

--

Captain Lia Rouiancet

Commanding Officer 

USS Octavia E. Butler

V238208LV0
she/her/hers (this character)