Posted Sept. 10, 2021, 9:38 p.m. by Commander Shedda Mal'athar (Executive Officer) (Jennifer Ward)
Posted by Lieutenant Commander Faye Calloway (Counter-Intelligence Officer) in Calloway’s Lab - Sharing Information
Posted by Commander Shedda Mal’athar (Executive Officer) in Calloway’s Lab - Sharing Information
Posted by Lieutenant Commander Faye Calloway (Counter-Intelligence Officer) in Calloway’s Lab - Sharing Information
(snip)
Faye had come a long way. Before she would never have thought to even ask, but her own traumas and then finding out her mom had PTSD meant that she was more mindful of how she approached sensitive and or difficult topics. With the XO’s permission, she set about her explanation.
“For the last few years, Intelligence has been revamping many of the data security protocols on ships across all fleets. It’s a slow process, understandably, but an important one. My work on the manhattan has been experimental but it’s an experiment in action and very necessary given our assignment and high probablilty of being away from help should we encounter issues.”
She tapped the keypad a few times and the display changed to show a crippled ship. “This is the USS Odyssey. It was commissioned seven years ago and sent on a deep space mission to explore the closer regions of the Delta Quadrant. This is, of course, before our little wormhole was discovered. The Odyssey was expected to do two years and return to a base for regular maintenance. Half way on their way back to Federation space, Command lost contact. Several months later a freighter came across the ship and relayed the information back to Starfleet via a Federation registered freighter.” Faye exhaled in preparation for what was to come next. It never failed to stun her. Not once.
She tapped a key and images began to slowly cycle. The ship was shown adrift, then interior shots showed the environmental systems were clearly non functional and the crew frozen, and in some spaces floating about, clearly dead. There were also signs of asphyxiation. It was grim and Faye held a somber gaze as she turned back to Shedda. “From the information gathered and extrapolated, it appears the ship’s systems came in contact with a virus. We’re not entirely sure how, but it seemed to be an evolved bit of tech. We don’t know its origins, but it sweeps through a computer and takes over, trying to restructure things to its liking, as if there is some sort of outcome it’s searching for. The freighter captains reported a few rumours of similar incidents with other non-Federation ships. While I’m not entirely willing to concede the point, some of my colleagues at S.I. believe that this might be a part of some adaptive technology that the Borg assimilated at some point.” She grimaced. “We have since learned that it’s very possibly tied to an organization that we’ve dubbed the Shadow Syndicate, their purpose is not clear but… they have gone to great lengths to achieve goals that are not entirely obvious to us. But they don’t matter to the Manhattan. Not anymore, anyway. We dealt with them recently and I suspect they’ll stay clear from now on,” she said with a tiny, if pained, smirk. “What matters is keeping our systems stable and functioning in an incursion and that is what I’ve helped design. And at least for the time I remain on the Manhattan, I can add my hacking abilities to block any sort of infiltration. My last steps are to make this system run on its own without much babysitting unless it’s a crisis.”
~Faye Calloway, Counter-Intelligence
Shedda nodded occasionally, simply to indicate that she was following what Faye was telling her. She stared, heart broken, over the devastation and for the families left behind, but at the same time taking in all the details she could as the images flashed across the screen. There was a visible tightening of the jaw at the word syndicate and Shedda wondered if it was simply a term applied because of similarity or because there was a connection with Orion and the people she tried so hard to not be associated with. “You and Cpt Cochrane are sure this ‘Shadow Syndicate’ will stay away?” It was really a moot point. It was someone they needed to look out for no matter how sure anyone was. “Have there been any reports of something similar since the Odyssey?”
Mal’athar, XO
Faye shook her head. “Not that we know of. None with Federation and Starfleet vessels. It seems to be contained within the Delta Quadrant… for now. But if other groups have had it come up as an issue, they’ve managed to keep it away from our Intelligence gathering. Basically, be on guard and carry on is the way we’re handing it on this ship. The rest of it is being handed by others with the ability to do so.”
~Faye Calloway, Counter-Intelligence
Shedda mentally shrugged, sometimes that’s all you could do. “What kind of practice/training runs do you do? It’s not like it would be wise to test the system against the actual virus. Unless there is a standalone, isolated, computer core somewhere for that.”
Mal’athar, XO
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