Ensign S'Rorr - Action Time

[S'Rorr]

(( State Room, Capitol City, Ah'rak IV ))

Sherlock: You haven't exactly been honest with us.

Corbin: We had no idea about Dara's involvement with the terrorists.

Madra: It will be investigated fully.

S'Rorr: A little late for that.

Wright/Stapledon(if returned from the sidebar): Response

Sherlock: We've been open with you at every turn, but you failed to inform us of this ::beat:: conflict. This is quite concerning especially now that one of our teams is in danger.

Corbin: You'll have our full cooperation in your effort to retrieve your team. General Madra will provide you any logistical resources you may require.

Madra: ::Bowing her head:: As you say, your highness.

S'Rorr: ::quietly:: Thank goodness..

Wright/Stapledon(if returned from the sidebar): response

Sherlock: That should suffice. But my concern is the bigger picture.

Corbin: Commander Sherlock, our people need only time. We'll root out this infection, perfect our Warp drive, and stand united again.

Madra: ::Aside to Corbin:: Your highness, bombs are not the only tactic the enemy will utilize, especially when they get word of Elder Dara's exposure. I must insist that you be moved to a safer location.

Corbin: ::standing straight in defiance of Madra's urge to move:: ::to Sherlock:: Give us time and reconsider our readiness. We are greater than the sum of our factions.

S'Rorr's ear twitched as Commander Sherlock's combadge chirped.

Sherlock: We shall see.

He watched as she stepped aside again, then looked at Corbin who looked back at him with the same expression. Both of them were thinking the same thing: S'Rorr doesn't have enough pips to talk to about this.

He considered small talk as he waited, but Madra was trying hard to convince Corbin to move and what would he say?

oO Sooooo.. D'you have good seafood on this planet? Oo

Serala: =/\= Captain Serala to Commander Sherlock. =/\=

Sherlock: =/\= I'm here, Captain. =/\=

Serala: =/\= Commander, I hope the local officials can hear me, because time is running out and I need an answer. =/\=

Sherlock: =/\= They'll let us get our people back. =/\=

Serala: =/\= Good work, Commander. We’ll be taking a team in shortly. Serala out. =/\=

S'Rorr heaved a huge sigh of relief when Sherlock returned to reengage.

Sherlock: We're going to get our people out.

Madra: We'll give you access to a company.

Sherlock: You heard me. We'll do it ourselves.

S'Rorr: Really.. it's not necessary. Our people can get in and transport out more easily without a squad of Ah'rakkian security to look after.

Wright/Stapledon (if back): response

Madra: Ten squads to a company. But I take your point.

Sherlock: The time for talk is over. We must take action. ::looking to Madra:: Consider this a demonstration of the skill and training of Starfleet Officers.

Corbin/Madra: Response

Sherlock: I'm not taking no for an answer. In fact, I'm not asking anything. If need be, we ::gesturing to the team:: will leave and come back to the surface along with our other teams and take our people back by force if necessary.

S'Rorr looked back and forth between the three of them. They each had such different goals. Corbin looked like her whole world and the tentative peace she had forged was crumbling down around her. She felt that her people's opportunities to join the galactic society and the technological advances and safety that would bring with it were slipping through her fingers like so much dry sand. Madra's goal was to get Corbin to a bunker and command her security forces to track down Dara's accomplices, that rogue faction, and she was eager to get to it. Commander Sherlock and her team seemed to have traded away the goal to uplift these people into the community with one to get the crew of the Chin'toka back to safety as soon as possible then extricate Starfleet from this powder keg before it exploded on them.

He could see that Corbin wanted to say something, anything to salvage the meeting, but what could she? There would be no more polite conversation while action needed to be taken. She was not a woman of action and so she stood in silence.

Madra gently placed a hand on Corbin's arm and urged her again in hushed tones.

Madra: Elder Corbin, please.

Corbin: Of course..

Corbin finally gave up and moved. The two were quickly surrounded by their respective retinues and security teams after that. S'Rorr got the sense that the meeting was officially over and noticed that Stapledon was missing from the State Room. He tapped his combadge and it chirped at him politely.

Sherlock: Response

S'Rorr: =/\= S'Rorr to Lieutenant Stapledon. Let's gather back together in the State room. =/\=

Stapledon: Response

He stepped over to Wright to check on her, getting in close but he didn't touch her. His voice was low and calm.

S'Rorr: You holding up?

Wright: Response

S'Rorr: I'm worried about them, too. Leave it to Captain Serala, though, she'll get them out.

Wright/Stapledon/Sherlock: Response

((Meanwhile, Rotunda, Captiol Building, Ah'rak IV))

Perastra stood with her hands tucked into the loose sleeves of her robe, looking eye to eye with Kimberly Stapledon as they discussed science, history, and philosophy.

Perastra: You may be right. But I must be right.

Stapledon: On Earth there was a man thousands of years ago named Aristotle.  For centuries people thought the writings he left behind were the last word on science.  Until people started doing experiments of their own.  For a while a great many people were upset when scientists contradicted Aristotle.  This is where courage comes in.  

Perastra: Is it truly wise to throw out the foundations of knowledge already laid out in the manuals for the sake of a chance we may find a better way?

Stapledon:  I'm not saying you need to completely throw them out, but you need to understand that you are just as capable of making the same discoveries that went into the writing of those manuals.

Perastra:  Perhaps.. but the foundations of our science work. Our copters fly, our weapons fire, our reactors burn. Experimentation has only ever broken resources that could never be recovered. Trying to improve reactors killed hundreds of thousands, not long ago.  We learned not to tinker with things we do not already understand. In my view, that isn't cowardice, just statistics.

Stapledon:  Because building things and engineering are just applied science.  Our job as scientists isn't to do what it says in a book.  Our job is to add to the books and make them even better.  When we make observations and predictions we can test those predictions.  For example, you might predict that if you drop a stone and a car they will both hit the ground at the same time.  You can test that and go from there to formulate theories about gravitation.

Perastra:  Response

Stapledon: Response

Perastra: Response

S'Rorr: =/\= S'Rorr to Lieutenant Stapledon. Let's gather back together in the State room. =/\=

Stapledon: Response

((Meanwhile, Outside the Capitol Building))

Security Officer 1: Get those sensor packs up here, I want full sweeps on -

She saw it before she heard it. A bright white flash in the distance, only a few city blocks away. The flash was followed by an enormous red-orange fireball. Then a blast of wind and dust kicked up from the ground hit her, strong enough to take her robes and pull them with enough force that she had to reseat her boots on the ground and crouch to stay on them. Two of her teammates fell over.

Security Officer 2: What was that?!

Security Officer 1: What do you think?! Get a team over there! I need those sensor packs! Tell the General to order evacuations! Move!

Ensign S'Rorr

Ship's Counselor

USS Chin'toka

A240206S04