Sculptor of the Mind

Captain's Log, Stardate 42609.4

A New Rival

Due to being in close proximity to the temporal time ship, our warp drives were having issues. In addition to transferring the Romulan prisoners, we were cleared to come in to Starbase 27 for our yearly overhaul 2 months early. When we dropped out of warp, we saw two ships docked: Fleet Captain Donald Hanlon's USS Blackheart and a ship we hadn't seen before labeled as the USS Mercury.

Lieutenant Joran Maniersi quickly did some research and found that the Mercury was the first of its class, stated to be the fastest in the fleet, and was commanded by Vice Admiral Tom Nelson. I love that my crew seems to carry the same pride as I do in our home for nearly immediately, a scoff echoing my very thoughts was heard from behind me, presumably the engineering station where Lieutenant Commander Hazor Dyan was seated.

An incoming hail from Lieutenant Commander William Margold gave us instructions to dock. He also said that my senior staff was to assemble for a meeting in 15 minutes. We beamed off the ship and were met by Captain Carl Curtis and Commander Louise Shelton. Curtis was pleasant and lead us to an executive meeting room where a 5-star dinner was being prepared by personal chefs. In attendance were Vice Admiral Nelson and his yeoman from the Mercury; Fleet Captain Hanlon, Commander Merlin Upton, Lieutenant Commander Sylvia DeCamp, Lieutenant Commander McKenna, and Lieutenant Simcox from the Blackheart; Colonel Peterson from The Triangle Marines Regiment; Fleet Captain Conrad Bain; and my crew including Commander Devin West, Lieutenant Maniersi, Lieutenant Commander Hazor, Lieutenant Commander Akoval th'Idrani lorTheel'zhiin, Captain Ian Frazier, and Doctor Matthew O'Grady.

Came Home to a Tragedy

Fleet Captain Bain started the meeting with some very sad news: the USS Yamato was destroyed with all hands. Captain Donald Varley of the Yamato believed he found the Iconian homeworld. However, while researching Iconia within the Romulan Neutral Zone, his ship was infected with an Iconian software virus that lead to their demise. The Enterprise-D, captained by Captain Jean-Luc Picard who was almost lost as well, was able to purge the contagion and destroy the last remaining piece of Iconian technology on the planet. The Romulans had caught wind of our discoveries and thus in addition to our regular orders, priority one was to secure all Iconian technology and to keep it out of enemy hands.

Vice Admiral Nelson interrupted saying that we don't have time for sorrow or for grief. Under no circumstance could we allow Romulans to gain the initiative. Anyone competing for Iconian technology was to be considered enemies and that everything pertaining to this mission was to be kept to people within the room. We were to keep even Federation ships away if they were not involved and to use any means of subterfuge necessary. The Blackheart and the Niven, due to our experience and contact on Psellus III, were at the forefront of the mission. The mission involved dividing our resources so that two objectives could be met: to search for potential Iconian worlds near the Romulan Neutral Zone within Federation space bordering The Triangle, and to research potential leads and unconventional reconnaissance. And with that, he left abruptly.

Fleet Captain Hanlon was visibly upset. The late Captain Varley was a personal friend of his and so he called for a toast to Captain Varley, his crew, and the USS Yamato. We decided to set up a meeting at 2100 hours to discuss our plan for the mission. I told my crew to meet in my ready room aboard the Niven at 2000 hours to strategize.

Things Coming Full Circle

I chatted briefly with Upton and learned that the Blackheart had been patrolling the Romulan Neutral Zone rather than entering the Triangle. He mentioned that he heard rumors about us running into Commander Karl Link. They apparently graduated together and had a few beers on Asswipe V. I remained elusive and asked to be informed of any more rumors. I never did find out what Link was up to nor what his future plans were. I just knew I didn't want to be responsible for another blown cover.

On my way to my quarters, I found Curtis in the operations office, along with Lieutenant Commander Hung Chu and Commander Seth Fowler. Chu said they have had to triple security due to Bain's orders. Fowler said they have had word that a large Cardassian fleet was sighted outside of the McAllister Nebula. We knew of a single battlecruiser a few months ago, so they must have increased forces and boldness to return to where we chased them away from before. Chu showed me a picture of an alien species with spines and crackled skin saying to be wary of them; they apparently were a vicious race who were being deployed by Cardassians.

When we met with Fleet Captain Hanlon, I suggested that the Niven take on the responsibility of patrolling for possible Iconian worlds. He asked me about our experiences on Psellus III. After listening to our tale, he said he was suspicious that K'vort Chang seemed to be well funded by Dr. Emil Pasternak, and thus, they must know something. We set up a meeting at 0600 with Vice Admiral Nelson. As we were walking back to our quarters, I mentioned to West that it seemed as though all of our previous experiences were somehow connected. He smiled and mentioned a proverb, "all things point to the Triangle."

The New Secret Mission

The next morning, at our meeting with Vice Admiral Nelson and the senior officers of the Niven and the Blackheart, Fleet Captain Hanlon said that the Blackheart was very familiar with Romulan space, but due to familiarity, it would be a good idea to have a new set of eyes. With the Niven's greater speed, he recommended the Niven take border patrol and the Blackheart would take reconnaissance.

Vice Admiral Nelson nodded and stated that he would take the Blackheart crew for the briefing. His yeoman, Master Chief St. Claire, stayed behind to give us our briefing. He handed us an isolinear chip with a map of all of the worlds in The Triangle. We were expected to give monthly reports of travel on security channel prime alpha. This was considered a highly classified mission and we were not to discuss it with anyone outside of Vice Admiral Nelson, Fleet Captain Hanlon, and him. Neither Rear Admiral Sextus Slate nor Vice Admiral Alynna Nechayev knew of these missions so we were to do everything we could to accomplish their missions, but to consider this our primary objective.

I did not feel quite right about having to answer to a high ranking official without the knowledge of my direct superior, but held my tongue and hoped for the best in that there would be no conflicting orders. I looked up Vice Admiral Nelson's service record, but it only stated his full name and title. I suspect that Starfleet Intelligence was behind this.

Troubling Messages

After our overhaul was complete, we were underway toward the Romulan Neutral Zone via Stevens Nebula. During our morning staff meeting, Hazor reported that he has increased efficiency of our equipment to run at 105% due to the precarious nature of our mission. In the middle of his report, I received a message from Starfleet Diplomatic Corps saying that Billiemae Tompkins has passed away. She was responding well to treatments, but was found dead in her home that morning. Dr. O'Grady thought it was odd considering her excellent physical condition and there were only 30 deaths reported related to Cushing's Syndrome. I couldn't get the thought that there was something sinister afoot out of my head. (…)

Later on that day, Maniersi received a garbled distress call from Dolak IV saying something about unknown assailants, a possible attack involving prisoners, and was requesting assistance. Dolak IV was faintly familiar to me. Maniersi reported that it was the only M-class planet within the 7 planet system. A penal colony was the only civilization on the planet. The planet also has mines where inmates are sent for work and an old archeological site that was claimed to have had nothing of significance and abandoned years ago. The local flora was plentiful as it was a jungle, however nearly all of them were poisonous. (…)

In scanning for the nearest Federation ship, we found the USS Charleston. We sent a message to them and to Starfleet Command, saying we were altering course to respond to a distress signal. Captain Cecilia Bromwicz responded and after giving her all the information we had of the emergency, she stated that the Charleston would respond right away and was en route. Just before we ended transmission, she gave her condolences of Captain Varley and asked if we know of a replacement. I was a bit puzzled at her question, but told her that I did not know. We made an arrangement to share anything new we came across.

During our travel to the Dolak system, I wanted to hold a memorial service for Billiemae Tompkins. Though she was transferred off the ship, she was always a member of the Niven. Command Master Chief Petty Officer Spencer Harlock was close to her and made a speech saying she was getting better at tennis and that it was a shame things happened the way they did, especially when she was so close to the mark.

Maniersi reported that he just figured out that the distress signal was sent at a slower rate than normal transmission, thus making the message we intercepted about a week old. It was suggested that perhaps we were not needed as nothing new was sent since, but I felt uneasy leaving a distress call unanswered, regardless of how old it was. I had him send an encrypted message to the Charleston relaying the new information, but that we were still underway to figure out what is going on.

Everything's Fine?

When we were within orbit of Dolak IV, we hailed the planet and a man by the name of Elrod Tain came on screen after a bit of a pause. He said no distress call was issued and that everything was operating as normal. Knowing this could mean any number of things, I tried to convince him to let us beam down to the surface to check things out for ourselves given that we were already here and backup was on the way as well. He calmly said that he would need to get the warden for that and will call us back. During this time, a scan for life signs showed that nearly 84% of the reported inmates were absent, and the remaining life signs were all human despite the manifest showing a considerable number of Orions.

The warden, Adrian Mulholland, was a very soft spoken gentleman. He repeated the same information as Tain, saying that a distress call was not sent. When asked about the missing inmates, he claimed that they were down in the mines where sensors would not be able to penetrate. I told him we need to investigate the archeological dig site on the planet anyway so to let us check out the colony as well to make sure nothing was going on. He agreed, but warned us to come unarmed as was standard with penal colonies for it would be devastating if an inmate were to get his hands on a weapon.

I assembled an away team consisting of Maniersi, Lieutenant, Junior Grade Thitaris Thalen, Ensign Bern Bretchkova RN, Sergeant Major Michael Pierson, Master Sergeant Syvek, and, much to the displeasure of West, myself. I did not fully trust what was being told to me by the administration staff and wanted to see things for myself. We were given coordinates to the central courtyard to beam down and were met by five guards. The head guard introduced himself as Ray and they accompanied us to the administration office. The office was on the second floor of the building and had just a simple desk with a UFP tapestry behind it. When I asked Mulholland why the staff seemed so skant, he answered that some were supervising the inmates within the mines and others were tracking some escapees from a break out.

Treachery

Maniersi asked for inoculations to protect us from the planet's poisons, so Mulholland called in a Dr. Crane. In a few minutes, a disheveled man entered the room with several scratches down his face, screaming, and bleeding from his scratches. After recovering from the initial shock, I ordered Bretchkova to assist him, and it was then that the UFP tapestry faded away from the wall. It was a hologram! Three Romulans with disruptors entered from the opposite door, along with two guards and Ray.

Mulholland calmly said to not make this any harder and Ray started taking our comm badges one by one. When I realized what was going on, I tried to order an emergency beam up, but one of the Romulans fired on me when I reached for the badge. I was not hurt, but definitely stunned, so a lot of what happened was in a daze. I remember barely being able to stand and Maniersi and Pierson had to help me out of the building when we were walked out to the courtyard. There was sudden fire from the tree line and some of our captors dropped to the ground. The Romulans ran back toward building and voices from the trees said to run for it.

When the guards started firing back, Pierson grabbed a gun from the fallen guard, and tried to shoot the remaining guards, but nothing fired when he pulled the trigger. I saw him get blasted, but Syvek punched the assailant in the face in retaliation. I feebly tried to grab for Pierson, but Maniersi, Bretchkova, and Thalen dragged me away. A dark skinned woman gestured for us to run towards them. I groggily said to not leave my men behind, but I heard they would go back for them later; we would be killed if we stayed here.

As we were running through through the jungle, sacs from overhanging vines burst and splattered, attracting swarms of bugs and insects. Once we were a couple kilometers away, we stopped and Bretchkova administered a stimulant to me. While we were waiting for it to kick in and to catch our breaths, Maniersi sited a giant spider about to attack the dark-skinned woman. He pointed it out, and a man with red hair and a beard to match, armed with a Romulan disruptor, shot it down. He had angry red rashes down his arms and face, but those bright green eyes could only belong to one person. He smiled at me and said, "it's been a long time…" As the medicine started coursing through my body, I was able to speak clearly and agreed that it had.

A Genius Plan

Our small band continued on through the jungle and we were lead through a quicksand pit to a tunnel. When we were safely under cover, the man introduced himself as the leader of the rebels, Daniel Connor. The dark-skinned woman was named Lana, there was an Orion named Kroog, and a tall, thin man named Tomar Tulik. They orchestrated a jailbreak when they realized that several fellow inmates were being taken away, but not one of them ever came back. They raided the compound and cobbled together a radio to send out a signal to get any sort of help here. A couple dozen people managed to escape, but most were in dire need to medical attention, some near death. Lana claimed that the guards were mind controlled.

Maniersi leaned down, presumably to check up on me, and he whispered as he pulled back a corner of the front of his uniform to tell me that he had a powered down, hidden comm badge. If I had the strength, I may have given him a giant hug right there. I asked him get in touch with the Niven right away. Daniel said that because we were underground, it would probably be hard to get clear communication so Maniersi went outside. He came back just as we heard sounds of attackers getting closer. He had an uncertain look on his face and said that West had ordered me to beam back up to the Niven. I refused, probably confirming his unease, but I said I would deal with him. Maniersi had hatched a plan to have the Niven shoot the planet with stun as we were under attack, send down the marines, medical team, and pattern enhancers to beam people out for medical care.

Overruled

A security team was first to arrive and Mr. Connor sent them around to flank the assailants. A medical team and Sergeant Clifford Upton with pattern enhancers came down on second wave. Upton came up to me, grabbed my arm, and slapped a portable enhancer on it. Before I knew what was happening, I got beamed out.

I was still screaming in a fit of rage when I materialized on the transporter room floor. A medical team was waiting for me there so I had them give me something so that I could stand and perform my duties. As soon as I entered the bridge, before they even had a chance to stand for the captain on the bridge nonsense, I snapped at Hazor that he had the bridge. I hauled West into the ready room and demanded to know what the hell that was for. He paraphrased a regulation in that when the captain is in grave danger, to get her the hell out of there. I sputtered some sort of response saying that it wasn't right for him to give orders to me through Maniersi and that it was a bad call. He clearly answered that he disagreed and that he would do it again in a heartbeat. I glowered at him and said that I would deal with him later, given we had a situation on the planet.

Maniersi was beamed back aboard by the time I retook command because he had a reaction to a cut and needed medical care. Luckily, it was a minor injury and he was back on his station as soon he was stabilized. He sent a message to Starbase and to the Charleston detailing our situation. The ground troops reported that there was not a Romulan in sight and so Hazor ordered a scan for ships in orbit. Silon said there were none.

Posturing

Hazor made a few modifications to detect cloaked ships and just as they were complete, a Romulan ship decloaked right in front of us. A hail came in from them. When I put it on screen, three Romulans were on the bridge of the ship. One of them was a very tall male with gray, disheveled hair, and wearing a lab coat. They demanded that we surrender as prisoners of war. I refused saying we do not deal with terrorists, they are the ones in breach of their neutral zone, we knew what they were doing to people, and that it would not go unpunished.

They did a steep dive downward toward the planet, so I ordered Maniersi to follow. They cloaked halfway down, and Pierson came on screen from the penal colony's administration building and shouted for a beam up. All personnel and prisoners were safely beamed aboard and medical attention given. Holding areas for the inmates were set up in our cargo bays. Hazor said that there were no warp signatures, so the Romulan ship had to still be in the vicinity.

The Enemy Within

Dr. O'Grady had his hands full with checking out all of the inmates, and he had some grave news. He said that many of them have severe brain damage sustained from constant experiments at the hands of the Romulans. Dr. Crane was suffering from paranoia and schizophrenia from continual psionic reprogramming. He had millions of artificial nanites destroying the consistency of his blood. O'Grady did not think a majority of them would survive. All of the humans who were experimented on seem to have these nanites in their blood, including Pierson. A jolt of panic ran through me, causing my eyes to well up in tears, but he said he thinks he will be fine because he was only exposed for a couple hours.

The main power suddenly dropped to minimum and our shields went down. I contacted security and got confirmation that our guests were accounted for. The Romulan ship decloaked and prepared to fire. Upton commed in to the bridge and stated that he just blasted Pierson. I felt the color drain out of my face and demanded why. The answer I got was not one I was expecting: he said that he ordered him to. I was speechless so Hazor jumped in, asking where he was and he said main engineering. I blurted out to bring security with him as an entourage and to send backup to secure the bridge.

Evidently, the nanites were part of the Romulans' hold on their subjects' minds, but stunning seemed to loosen their grip. Because of this, Pierson had sabotaged the ship, but with great effort, regained control of himself long enough to order to be shot several times until he was unconscious so that he could do no more harm to the ship or her crew. The Charleston arrived just in time to help. They prevented the Romulan ship from firing upon us, but our enemies managed to escape. I felt a boiling rage toward them and part of me hopes we encounter them again to bring them to justice. Still, I was glad for the calm that finally settled.