In Search Of..

[La'ta'nM]

the Emblem for the Starfleet Corp of Engineers shown prominantly on his shoulderas well as the special pin on his Collar. Stopped made a few adjustments on the main Engineering board as he spoke. " Its not something I can teach it just comes with experience of being on a Starship. You wll out do me I am sure."

[Commander Crio Ijoula]

It took several minutes for Crio to grab a hold of himself at this new information. How he had hoped that he'd never, ever have to come face-to-face with that Ktarnian commander again...

He then pressed his combadge. "Captain, may I see you?" his tone was rather somber compared to his normal jovial, joking self.

[Capt Grab Foot Of~Two Dawns]

He gave a nod to the commander before he entered his office/ready room.

He pondered the thought of going into his own ready room to do what humans call eavesdrop on the conversation, but he was sure the commander would fill him in on what this Broker officer would tell him. He didn't need to hear it twice.

So he stayed seated, thinking he was starting to become more human and perhaps that he had been around them too often.

A couple minutes pass before he heard the commander's voice again, asking to see him. The somber tone in his voice did not escape him. Perhaps the situation is bleaker then what was thought of. Tapping his own comm badge, he merely said "Yes" Before getting up, turning to Thelis "You have the bridge." He stated before he turned, walked toward and into the commander's ready room, waiting expectantly for the news that has sent the commander into his somber mood

[Kefira]

"I am hoping that will not be anytime soon and when the time does come, you will still live here among the engines here. Your expertise will be past down to many engineers and when their CO or other Cadets ask how that was done, they will tell about you and your adventures."

[Commander Crio Ijoula]

Crio tapped at the control panel on his desk, entering a command sequence to unlock the door, so that the captain could just walk in. His emotions ranged from anger bordering on outrage, loathing (extreme hatred), determination, and fear.

The image of the energy wave signature that Hans sent him was still on the screen, the same one he remembered the Terrasect tracking before, when rescuing Jim and his diplomatic team...

If I manage to get my hands on you, Rhka, I promise you'll regret it. You've crossed the line this time. he thought, the wounds still ran deep from being made to believe for a time that Jim, Bri, and two other senior officers were killed in a shuttle explosion.

He feared the return of the nightmares and insomnia he had in the wake of that fateful mission.

Deeper within his mind, he heard Brexen's voice, as if she were trying to call through the void. "James! Don't you dare give up! We're coming! Hang in there!"

When he heard the doors open, he glanced up, then nodded toward the chairs opposite the desk, silently inviting him to take a seat.

"Full circle..." he said, hoping that the meaning would be clear enough. If it wasn't he was prepared to explain it.

[La'ta'nM]

He smiled as he spoke softly Me? No. I am only a Ferengi. Now you your someone special.

[Kefira]

Her tail jerked. "No Sir. I am just a Cadet. I will not become anyone special until I learn all your little secrets and even then I am sure there are secrets you will tell no one." She reaches up and rubs one of his ears. "You will all ways be special. If it is only to me, the Captain and these engines that would crumble in fear of another Engineer."

[Lt. Thelis]

Tapping his own comm badge, he merely said "Yes" Before getting up, turning to Thelis "You have the bridge."

"Sir?.." Thelis began, questioningly. The Captain slowed and his ear twitched back.

"Nothing, Sir.", he faltered. Trouble found him easily enough without him attempting to question the Captain's decisions.

[Capt Grab Foot Of~Two Dawns]

He reached for the door chime to the commander's office when the door slid open on its own. He knew the commander is expecting him so he went in. When the door closed, he took a step forward and nearly recoiled at what hit him, not physically, but this was more of an emotional blow to his senses. Anger, extreme hatred, outrage, fear, to name a few emotions that assailed his senses. Yes, he could sense, or rather smell, the range of emotions that Ijoula is feeling. Such emotions were easy to pick up, especially in such close quarters.

Hesitantly, he approached the commander's desk to sit down. He knew of only one time that he felt such an extreme range of emotions from the commander and he hoped that he would never have to feel such emotions again.

So much for hoping. The commander only spoke two words, but those words spoke massive volumes. A glance to the monitor that had been turned his way spoke just as audibly. The energy signature displayed, he remembered well. He had picked up the same when he had been a tactical officer. Inadvertently, he had almost started an interstellar war

Coming back to the present with his thoughts, he stood, thumping the deck so hard with his tail, the impact sent tingles up his tail and spine. and he done something that he seen a number of humans and humanoids do many times: Pace.

He hoped Crio would elaborate further on what has been found or would he have to verbalize the request? Such a verbalization would be issued with a sharp growl

[Commander Crio Ijoula]

Crio took several deep breaths. He clearly was putting up a massive fight to contain the emotions that he felt, but it was an uphill battle. He nods toward a nearby chair as he stands.

"Commander Broker told me that this energy signature appeared in the Terran system about three hours before Jim disappeared. The fact that it appeared for only a millisecond or two indicates that they're using some kind of cloaking system or other sensor stealth technology..." He rounds his desk, and goes to the replicator, and enters a command for a slushy ichoberry punch, an extremely potent citrus drink that he finds calming to him, and when needed, to shock him back to his senses. After taking a rather large sip, he comes back over, clearly starting to calm down now, the impact being that instant on him. He also had replicated a cold citrus drink for the captain, with considerably less citrus intensity than the slush drink he had, but he hoped it would be equally as calming for him. He then hands it to the captain. "This should help calm you down, sir."

"What I don't know, is if this is a Ktarnian ship of the present or the future... For that, I need an ace engineer to look at both known signatures for any differences, and to match this signature... I'll be asking Chief Latamn and Mister Thelis to analyze it and compare with the known signatures that we've seen. I'll also let Brexen look it over, and ask her to confer with you."

He takes another drink, in sore need of calming down. Yes, it was sharp to his palette, but it worked well for him.

"I also suggest backup in this. The Pegasus joined us last time in the rescue... I'd like to think they'd be willing to join us again. I intend to contact them, too, to see if Bri's there... She was attending a surgical seminar at Starfleet Medical at the same time that Jim disappeared..."

[La'ta'nM]

Jan 29, 2012 18:39:44 GMT -5 Kefira said:

Her tail jerked. "No Sir. I am just a Cadet. I will not become anyone special until I learn all your little secrets and even then I am sure there are secrets you will tell no one." She reaches up and rubs one of his ears. "You will all ways be special. If it is only to me, the Captain and these engines that would crumble in fear of another Engineer."

Gha she was beautiful he thought but only gave a smile."Well Come one lets see if we can get some work out of my crew down here." he turned heading to the other end of Engineering from her one could access the tubes through out the rest of the lower section of the ship.

[Capt Grab Foot Of~Two Dawns]

He continued to pace, feeling irritable at the new turn of events, much of his anger spent by his tail thumping of the deck, but emotions were still as thick as his fur in the room

Crio got up to go to the replicator, commenting "Commander Broker told me that this energy signature appeared in the Terran system about three hours before Jim disappeared. The fact that it appeared for only a millisecond or two indicates that they're using some kind of cloaking system or other sensor stealth technology..." as he went. With that, he blew air out his nose, in what seemed like a sigh. He then sat down, turning the chair toward the commander, a sharp tangy aroma hitting his nostrils as Crio took a drink of the order he asked for "That would mean things would be more difficult for us to find Jim or his kidnappers." He commented as he is handed a similar tangy drink, but not as sharp, aroma-wise

He took a drink, the flavor tickling his tongue. It was good, a bit heavy on the citric taste but it did little to calm his nerves.

He sat the glass on the corner of the commander's desk as he continued "What I don't know, is if this is a Ktarnian ship of the present or the future... For that, I need an ace engineer to look at both known signatures for any differences, and to match this signature... I'll be asking Chief Latamn and Mister Thelis to analyze it and compare with the known signatures that we've seen. I'll also let Brexen look it over, and ask her to confer with you."

He nodded as he thought that is a good idea, getting Thelis and latamn to view the signitures of the anomolous energy reading and the ship that had been detected for only a millisecond or two "That would be the first thing I would want to know, Commander. Whether they came from the future or if they're returning with new or upgraded technology. You know very well we barely escaped them the first time. With this new data, we could very well be walking, or flying, into a trap that we may not be able to escape." He paused to let the commander continue

"I also suggest backup in this."[/color] A sharp look to the commander at this "The Pegasus joined us last time in the rescue... I'd like to think they'd be willing to join us again. I intend to contact them, too, to see if Bri's there... She was attending a surgical seminar at Star fleet Medical at the same time that Jim disappeared..."

Backup, Commander? I have my doubt that Star Fleet would allow this. The Pegasus had joined us the last time because we were under star fleet orders. This time, we are searching for Jim against star fleet orders, or at best scenario, Star Fleet may not even know we have gone yet, Not only would we have the Ktarnians on our backs but we may end up with Star Fleet on our tails as well. I believe we may be alone on this mission, Commander." Again, a pause to let Ijoula respond.

[Commander Crio Ijoula]

He carefully watches the captain pace, then face him again after his comment about wanting backup.

"With respect sir, I'm no stranger to going in alone and against 'official' Starfleet orders and I've admittedly taken my lumps for it..." he stands and comes around the desk, still admittedly irritated at the size of the 'lumps' he took over his last stunt of that, as it led to a sizable demotion.

"...but under the circumstances, if Starfleet Security now has their proverbial eyes, ears, and noses on the prowl for him, I'd like to think they'd want as many starships as possible to likewise jump on the search..."

He blinked a couple of times, and his sense of determination grew as an extra influence joined his own. "Besides... How can Starfleet Command go against the idea of rescuing one of their senior starship designers who is currently in enemy hands? Unless they've turned into complete fuzzbrained idiots, I doubt they'd have the nerve to say 'No' under these circumstances. If they do... well you have another engineer at your disposal who knows a few... unorthodox ways of hiding this ship and boosting defensive and offensive systems..."

After he finished his last sentence, a memory surfaced so acutely of Brexen and Jim working together to prepare the USS Thunderchild for battle, that Crio felt like he was taken back to that period..

~~~~~~~~~~

Brexen rounded a corner from the engineering office, and approached the main diagnostic table.

"James, the captain said we're heading into battle, likely with a Romulan warbird.. I'd like to have at least two backups, preferably three, for the phasers and shields if we should lose the main EPS relays during the battle. Let's also see about bringing a couple of the auxiliary fusion reactors to hot standby so we can strengthen the shields and phaser arrays."

Harsting would nod, liking that idea. "I like that idea. I might have to steal it from you." he said with a smile.

"Give credit where credit is due, mister..." she said playfully, lightly hitting his shoulder with an equally playful jab. "Take Jiles and Marloney with you. We have maybe three hours before we take to the court, and I don't want us to be on the losing team." she added with a smirk.[/i]

~~~~~~~~~~

[Capt Grab Foot Of~Two Dawns]

"With respect sir, I'm no stranger to going in alone and against 'official' Starfleet orders and I've admittedly taken my lumps for it..." he heard from the commander as he stood and came around the desk. Granted, so has he, Grab foot mused, on more then one occasion. As he looked at Ijoula, Grab foot wondered Is the Commander trying to challenge him? He doubted it. The commander is a smarter person than that. Course, in the light of current events, and his emotional state, it could be effecting his judgement. Crio continued, adding to his comments

"...but under the circumstances, if Starfleet Security now has their proverbial eyes, ears, and noses on the prowl for him, I'd like to think they'd want as many starships as possible to likewise jump on the search..." Grab foot thought about that then began to disagree with that. The whole fleet after one man, even if it is Jim Harsting, one of the best minds and officers in the fleet. Jim Harsting has also been on injured leave/retirement for several months in which Star Fleet security has had time to change different codes and protocols and made new ones.

Crio's determination seemed to grow as they spoke. No, not just Crio's, there is someone else. Perhaps Brexen is trying to insert her will into the conversation. Another stubborn personality. "Besides... How can Starfleet Command go against the idea of rescuing one of their senior starship designers who is currently in enemy hands? Unless they've turned into complete fuzz brained idiots, I doubt they'd have the nerve to say 'No' under these circumstances. If they do... well you have another engineer at your disposal who knows a few... unorthodox ways of hiding this ship and boosting defensive and offensive systems..."

Grab foot stood, his tail twitching, almost lashing a bit. He hated to disagree with the commander but this is one time he did. "Commander, It is beginning to sound as if you are turning into a rogue officer. The fuzz brained thing to do would be to send the entire fleet after one man, especially if the man is in the clutches of a possible futuristic Ktarnian vessel. It would be Wolf 359 all over again, something the federation cannot afford. I still believe in the possibility of Jim being dead, as I recall, the Ktarnians had vowed revenge." As much as he hated to admit it, it's something that he, and the rest of Jim's friends, needed to face "JIm Harsting is a good friend and a capable officer, but I am not going to risk MY ship and those of the crew on a single individual. If you wish, you may take a shuttle and any officer's you see fit to give chase and pursue after Jim" He stood toe to toe, so to speak with the commander, as much as their heights allowed, not planning to back down

[Commander Crio Ijoula]

He stood there, feeling his anger starting to come up again as he felt like he was being berated by the captain for being passionate about rescuing a dear friend and valuable Starfleet officer. He could not believe that this conversation had to happen under these circumstances.

So far, he had managed to hold his tone in check and reel his emotions back in, though extremely difficult. Now, he could no longer hold his tone in check, as he responded, his eyes narrowed and his hands clenching and relaxing as he struggled to fight the urge to yell.

"Jim didn't like the fact that I can't sit on my hands for long and do nothing, either... However, I can tell you that this is one time when he is counting on someone to come to his rescue!"

With that, he clenches his jaw hard, and his head visibly shakes for a couple of seconds, clearly fighting to not lose control over his anger in front of the captain, and then he storms out of his office.

He made his way around the back of the bridge and entered the turbolift, not looking at or speaking to anyone. He growled at the computer when the doors closed. "Deck Seven..." he said, needing to go deal with his anger before it affected anyone else.