Lt. Haukea-Willow: Wormholes or Blackholes?
Aly Drolet
OOC: When Foster asks Haukea to check in with McLaren, I break her away from the others and the rest of the conversation in order to make it easier for myself to juggle all the tags and inflood of information. Hope that’s alright.
((Sickbay - USS Narendra))
Haukea’s face turned firm, lips set in a thin, straight line. Whoolheater, himself, presented with a cooperative task, was essentially a security officer, which necessitated security details being passed along.
Kel: ::He crossed his arms, expression sharpening slightly:: I can reach out to the bridge. They’re going to want the context, and we’ve got enough to show this isn’t just coincidence. Whatever this is, it’s bigger than Sickbay.
Foster: Alright, Doctor Kel you have the details, I think we should get directly in contact with Commander Fairhug. I’m also going to report this to the department leaders on the Narendra so we can all be on the lookout. Sickbay may not be the only systems affected.
Wethern: We will get started. Who wants to give the bridge the bad news?
Haukea’s thin lips faltered into a frown at the thought of standing there, the bridge on the other end of a comline, informing them of a potential security breach. She imagined she’d fall apart in the face of informing them, believing in certain death.
Kel: ::Swallowing dryly, he softly glanced to Haukea before looking back at Wethern and Foster:: I’ve got it. I’ll make the call. We shouldn’t delay—if someone’s watching us, we can’t assume we have time on our side.
Foster: Alright, Kel – I trust you and I know you have the information we need to convey. You got this.
Wethern: ::Holding up his hands:: I am more than happy with that decision. We probably need to be on our toes. I've got a bad feeling about this. It could also just be too much replicated food.
Kel: ::Allowing himself a wry smile:: If it is the food, then we’ve got bigger problems than a sabotage attempt. ::He glanced around again, wary:: But my bet’s still on something more deliberate.
Foster: I don’t like deliberate. Then again I’m paranoid and believe that we should treat it as a danger until proven otherwise.
And, for the eternity of a clock handle turning, the infinite length of a second, the Risian believed, wished, hoped if not prayed, that despite the potential of stepping out of line, she would be taken solemnly. Her conviction was earnest, expert. Hopefully Corey in his wisdom too, would find similarity in the view.
Willow: Wethern, may I speak to you for a moment?
Wethern: Response
Foster: ::Nodding, giving permission:: Yeah, we have a moment.
Haukea found, potentially, that the current conversation landed in an entirely increased personal direction, which she was hesitant to say if Wethern was agreeable having in such an open position. Reasonably the chief sequestered the CMO off to one side, though not completely out of range of the others, a hint of hesitation within her own voice.
Willow: What do we actually know about this so-called security breach? What did the sensor ghosts show?
Wethern: Response
The edges of her lips continued to pull downwards, eyes momentarily fixated on Corey’s abdomen, previous experiences dictating her actions, imploring her word choice.
Willow: I just…I don’t want you getting hurt, alright?
Wethern: Response
Still waiting, hopefully patiently, at the computer core Ensign Kel and Commander Foster continued to speak quietly regarding the current issue.
Kel: ::Quietly to Foster, while the others conferred:: I’ll compile our notes for the official report once I speak to the bridge. If we’re right about this breach… I want something solid behind what we’re saying
Foster: You and I are on the same page, Doctor.
Willow: ::Turning back towards the others:: Be mindful of the rules, got it? I want no funny business. Anything appears wrong, even if you are in doubt, you report it straight to me, understood?
Foster: I certainly wasn’t planning any funny business.
Kel: I'll reach out to the bridge now.
Wethern: Response
Kel, taking charge, moved to one side, fingers clenching round the edge of a console as he began to open the comm channel. Haukea, Foster and Wethern just at the border of hearing range. Haukea herself, after speaking with Wethern felt entirely more professional, held together.
Kel: =/\= Ensign Kel to Commander Fairhug. =/\=
Fairhug: =/\= Response
Kel: =/\= Sir, reporting from Sickbay. During our inspection, we confirmed a subtle vibration in one section of the corridor — Wethern and I confirmed. It’s not showing up on standard diagnostics, but it’s consistent. We also found signs that someone’s accessed the systems — nothing immediately harmful, but definite traces of interaction. Possibly tampering. =/\=
Fairhug: =/\= Response
Kel: =/\= We’ve isolated key medical systems from the mainframe as a precaution, and we’re preparing off-grid backups. Commander Foster believes there’s a chance our systems have been compromised. If that’s the case, someone could be monitoring our movements. =/\=
Fairhug: =/\= Response
After a while she began peering at her PADD, checking messages from Lt. Andrews. Lt. Andrews, as expected, had already initiated the project assigned.
Willow: Now, what are we going to do about it? If we are done inspecting the systems there must be a next step.
Kel: The most likely vector was a passive data siphon, probably embedded in routine system access protocols. If that’s the case, we should identify the signature—then we’ll know whether it was internal or external in origin.
Wethern: Response
Foster: We’re also headed into an area of space with dangerous spatial phenomenon and a high chance of turbulent navigation. We should prepare for trauma injuries if we lose inertial dampeners.
Willow: Furthermore, I’ve been communicating with Andrews. She’s begun the process of creating a digital isolinear chip backup regarding the medical computer systems. She estimates two-three hours, if not sooner for completion.
Foster: Excellent. Let’s do what we can to protect our systems.
Kel: That timeline should work. I can assist with cross-referencing current system access logs against older encrypted backups. If there’s a pattern, it might tell us when the breach began… or who left the door open.
Wethern: Response
Willow: Well, shall we get that coffee first?
Her eyes moved towards Kel. She was certainly placing a brave face, if she only knew.
Foster: I’m already hopped up on enough caffeine to kill a targ. ::he stated, again in that hard to read over-animated humorous tone.::
Kel: You go ahead. I’ll join you once we’re not potentially being spied on.
Wethern: Response
Haukea inclined her head, watching as Kel himself moved towards the auxiliary monitors, showing off several silent status pings. Haukea herself, in desperate need of a coffee, wandered off to the replicator, ordering a mocha, a favorite blend of rich coffee and chocolate.
Mocha obtained, contained in a small stout vessel, lidded, the security chief reconnected with Kel, watching, sipping at the caffeine, as he pawed through several layers of internal coding, sensors, navigation and passive comm traffic. There was, if minute, something amiss.
Kel: Huh. ::to the others:: We’re adjusting course... looks like we’re starting a pass around the accretion disk of a black hole?
Within the computer readouts two faint vessels flickered into resolution, clear and sharp. On the edges around them was a faint fuzzy edge, indicating the accretion of a blackhole. Haukea sighed, short, sweet, a mere plea of unidentifiable frustration, not dissimilar to anger. While, since her conversation with Wethern, she felt remarkably more solid in her footing, it was almost entrapping to be stuck staring at lines of coding when a bigger spectacle could be created. As a security officer more could be done.
Kel: ::quietly, almost to himself:: One Starfleet signature. The other... Romulan?
As a Risian it was completely within her nature to present with openness towards a variety of species. She could even forgive past prejudices and atrocities, individuals weren’t the mistakes of their ancestors. Though what she couldn’t stand was bigotry, harassment or harm to an individual for differing beliefs, abilities or culture. One didn’t necessarily have to believe the same, or agree, however respect was key. Despite that, knowing the details of their current situation, a great deal could be speculated regarding the Romulans’ intentions, none of them ideal.
Foster: ::Taking a step towards Kel:: Do you have a feed from the bridge?
Willow: ::Whisper:: Hell’s teeth.
Wethern: Response
Kel: ::Turning to face the others, tone cautious:: There’s a distress signal coming from the Romulan ship. Fragmented. We must be passing close. I’m guessing the bridge will try to make contact or get a visual. ::He hesitated before continuing, as if weighing whether to say it aloud:: If there’s sabotage on this ship, it might be connected to whatever happened to those. The timing’s... convenient.
Foster: You may be right, and at this point we’ve informed every person on this ship who needs to know and who can start to search for potential saboteurs – internally or externally.
Willow: There’s not much we can continue to do down here in the way of passive preparations. It’s all becoming a bigger fight than we initially anticipated.
Wethern: Response
The Risian tensed as the deck plating reverberated, quaking with strane, effort. What, if any, hostilities were taking place required her participation.
Kel: That’s the fourth time. Still no alerts in internal diagnostics, but it's there. ::He exhaled sharply, shaking his head:: I don’t think this is just interference from the black hole. Someone tried to hide something... maybe still is. We need to be ready for a cascade failure, or worse, if we’re being watched from the inside.
Foster: Agreed. That said, this is sickbay, and we are doctors. We should be preparing for turbulence and if there’s a distress signal, we need to mobilize for potential incoming casualties.
Willow: In that case I should get going. I’m no medical expert.
Wethern/Kel: Response
Here, Foster, exerting his leadership, physically and metaphorically, stepped up, delegating each task to best suit the officer’s talents.
Foster: Lieutenant Willow, you’re a security expert, I want you to check in with Lt. Commander McLaren and see where your talents are best suited.
She inclined her head once more, willing to leave the confines of sickbay, gathering more reliable information.
Willow: Yes, sir. I’ll get on that right away.
At that Haukea turned sharply, exiting sickbay. She would walk back to security, taking the comm call along the way. Such an act allowed for efficiencies; they couldn’t afford any more delays. She couldn’t afford any more missed time away from the information that truly mattered.
Halfway between sickbay and main security, The Narendra cast acutely to one side, listing. Her balance, while solid, wasn’t what it once was, causing her to nearly lose her footing. Though remaining upright, hand on the wall for added support her combadge chirped.
McLaren: =/\= McLaren to Willow. Could you meet me in the main security office. I'd like to track down these potential systems breaches, and we may have some Romulan involvement. =/\=
Willow: =/\= Willow here. I’m already on my way. =/\=
McLaren: =/\= See you there. =/\=
((Main Security - Deck 2))
Entering main security the pair got straight to work.
McLaren: Thanks for meeting me. We certainly seem to be in the thick of it again, don't we?
Willow: That’s part of why we signed on, didn’t we? For the adventure.
McLaren: Your team found systems breaches, correct? Can you tell me what specifically? I'm just trying to get a handle of what is happening.
Willow: I’m not entirely sure myself what was found. Kel and Wethern described it as sensor ghosts within the computer systems as they were prepping medical equipment. What is known is that an individual, or perhaps a team, did access the coding and tamper with it. Slight enough changes to not be noticeable or heavily impact operations. Yet who can say what was actually done.
McLaren: Response
Willow: We are still trying to work out if it was one of our own or not.
McLaren: Response
Lt. Haukea-Willow
Chief of Security - Crisis Response
Starbase 118 Ops
M239512BG0
Ad Astra Per Aspera/To The Stars With Difficulty - Una Chin-Riley
