Posted by Civilian Kara Nakuto (Engineer (Consultant Researcher - Yellow)) in Side Sim - Strange Message

Posted by Lieutenant Commander John McHarrie (Medical (Consultant Researcher - Abell)) in Side Sim - Strange Message

Posted by Civilian Kara Nakuto (Engineer (Consultant Researcher - Yellow)) in Side Sim - Strange Message
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻
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Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

” like secret orders and meetings in your quarters don’t already do that. You know about the message don’t you” Luna said coldly. She was not in the mood for games. Not to mention suspicious of everything sumthing about this felt like a trap.
Ensign Luna

“You were the ones that wanted to meet me,” John said, “Given that it was the two of you, I guessed it was about the rumours I’m hearing about the Viking. As such a less formal space would be appropriate and comfortable.”

He took a tricorder out of a drawer and tossed it towards Luna casually in a manner that she would easily catch it

“Scan away if you like,” he invited, “At least here there’s no autolog being recorded.”

-John

Kara remained silent as Luna voiced her own reservations towards both the situation and McHarrie himself. Then finally stepping forward, she offered the Welshman a shrug.
“Forgive us for our hesitation, Commander,” she began, “old habits die hard, I believe is the appropriate phrase? The three of us, more than any other on this ship, have reason to be suspicious of every situation. It becomes the default position with alarming ease, as I suspect you might agree?”

” you have never meet Cerenity where exactly did you hear about her” Luna said still on eage. She was still defensive. Nothing unusual for her. Mention Cerenity had only agitated her.

John had been the Viking’s CMO so had known of Cerenity, but it was true that he had never treated Luna’s child.

Glancing towards the replicator and then around the room, the half-Klingon had been hoping to spot another bottle of Romulan ale but instead reached into her pocket and drew out a quarter bottle of bloodwine.
“I find the replicated version to have an unappealing aftertaste,” she offered by way of explanation, before uncorking the bottle and taking a drink, then offering it out to the others.

Luna blinked she did not want to be roud. ” im alright Kara that stuff is way to strong for me” she said with a smile rembering having drunken the stuff with her once before and how she regretted it the next morning.

But they had not gathered here to drink and reminisce on their shared time on the Viking, as appealing as such an event might be. Producing the PaDD from her toolbelt, the half-Klingon activated the screen and turned it towards McHarrie, while maintaining her grip on the device itself.
“We have intercepted an incoming message. Encrypted. Its intended recipient appears to be your Uncle.”

• Kara Nakuto (Consultant Researcher)

” we need help getting into it. Its section 31 so it can’t be good” Luna said.
Ensign Luna

“If the recipient is my Uncle, we were wise not to meet in my lab,” John said.

He looked at the headers of the encoded message. “It looks like an older encryption algorithm, but the source is definitely S31.”

“Hmm. Not good,” he said after a few more taps. He pointed to the second two entries on the routing information. He was unsure how much Luna and Kara understood about network routing so explained briefly.

“Whoever sent this was desperate, in a hurry and did not bother to spoof their routing. That first entry will identify the source terminal used to record the message, but it is the 2nd two that are most worry. The prefix on this one indicates it has be routed through the Flight Data Recorder. The Orange Box will have a permanent and undeletable copy of the message. The Orange Box is designed to withstand even a core breach.”

John paused for a moment to let that sink in as much with himself as the others.

“The prefix on the next node suggests the message bounced from a log bouy to achieve a long range hop. Definately desperate. The message could in theory have transmitted after destruction,” It was unlike John to hesitate, but he did.

“Are you sure you want to see it? There is no going back for any of us once we know what’s inside.”

-John

Kara frowned. “Are you implying, John, that something might have happened to the Viking? If that is the case then I don’t believe we have any choice but to see this.”

• Kara Nakuto (Consultant Researcher)

“I heard from Starbase 157 that the Pennington had picked up a distress beacon from the Viking’s escape pods after the ship was abandoned. Last I heard she was enroute,” John said.

-McHarrie

Luna blinked. ” WHAT!? what happened!” luna said then glared at the message. ” what is in that message” Luna said glaring at him.
Ensign Luna

“John, please,” the half-Klingon begged, her eyes darting frantically from Luna to McHarrie and back, before finally relinquishing her hold on the PaDD and offering it to him. “We all had friends still, on that ship. And I have heard nothing of this incident over the standard channels, which means that if something has happened to them, then Starfleet are planning to bury it. Possibly in the same pit that they use to hide the existence of the ARU.”

• Kara Nakuto (Consultant Researcher)

Having got a verbal OK from both parties John tapped a padd.

“We’re in this together,” John said. The padd prompted for a retinal scan to play the message. “Anyone with S1 could bypass that in an hour, but time is not on our side. You didn’t see this.”

“Agreed,” Nakuto snorted without humour.

John stared at the padd and let the sensor scan his eye. A moment later Junior appeared on the display. He was on a corridor waist deep in a purple. The only lighting was from a wrist lamp and the phaser rifle he was holding. Junior spoke urgently in Welsh, the McHarries’ native language.

John repeated the message out loud so the universal translator would translate it into Federation Standard for Kara & Luna.

“James. You were right. There is one here. I saw it and I remember. Whatever this is got it scared. So scared it ignored me and didn’t blatt my memory. This rising and the evacuation order has just been given. I’m going after it.”

The last thing Junior did before ending the transmition was hold his fingers as though kissing them and held them towards the camera. before adding the parting request. “Wish me luck”

John looked at Kara and Luna.

“I pray to god that thing doesn’t get off that ship,” John said.

-McHarrie

That thing. Neither Grimshaw or McHarrie had offered any details on the creature itself. But Kara knew, in the sickening lurch of her stomach, of what they spoke. There had been a time that she had scoured the Viking for them herself.
“An evacuation order? Do we know the current status of the Viking?” She turned to Luna, “Could you fire up a terminal, Luna, and see what you can find out?”

Turning back to John, she added, “If the ship itself has been destroyed then that thing could be anywhere. And it is not the only monster the Viking kept at bay.”

• Kara Nakuto (Consultant Researcher)

“We know they cannot survive in vacuum,” John offered, “And if it were heading for one of the escape pods it would not want to be remembered.”

“I will put some feelers out, but no news is good news,” John said, “If the crew were lost, I would expected at least some chatter keeping it quiet from SNN until families have been notified. SNN is not exactly well known for keeping a lid on things. Look how they reported on Wolf 359.”

-McHarrie