Papa's Coffee

Posted on 28 Feb 2020 @ 7:02pm by Lieutenant Madalene Sabine & Captain Mallory Thorne & Commander Kristiana Petrova

1,099 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Changing Faces
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: MD 02 - 1730 hours

=/= Begin Log =/=

Looking over everything she had Madalene made sure there was contingencies on contingencies for this plan. The second officer was right there was a lot that could go wrong but they couldn't just keep on going blind through this timeline and universe. Looking up she picked up her PaDD and looked around for the second officer, "...ma'am do you have time to go see the Captain with me?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. Yes, of course." Kris rose up from the XO's chair, rolling her shoulders and wincing a bit, idly wandering over towards Madalene.

"This is for you," Madalene said handing her a PaDD before walking across the bridge to the ready room. "Ready?" She asked her hand hovering over the chime button.

Kristiana slowed her walking to give the PaDD a very quick once-over before committing. There was nowhere enough time to fully read what was on it, but she felt better at least having seen it before walking into the ready room. "Yeah, let's do this."

"Alright. Let's do this." Madalene said pushing her palm onto the chime and then stepped back and waited for the invitation.

Since taking command of the USS Odin, Mallory had come to learn one simple, now-universal truth: that no matter how weird she thought things were, it could always get weirder... She was thinking about that a lot while she read the reports--as brief as they were, for the moment--from medical and engineering about their new "guests."

...which didn't even take into account the other new guests.

It was because of this that when the chime to her ready room went off, she almost didn't answer it. She really didn't want any more bizarre crap landing on her desk...but she also knew that she was the captain. She really didn't have a choice. "Enter," she called.

"After you." said Kris, motioning Madalene ahead.

Madalene stepped into the office, "ma'am," Madalene said simply as she walked in and placed a PaDD onto her desk, "...I think I may have a plan to get us access to the Union's LCARs or whatever they call it. But it is dangerous and if we get caught well...." Madalene said letting that hang and looking back the second officer.

"Consequences could be bad on a wide scale." Kristiana added. "But I think it might be worth considering."

Mallory briefly wondered when polite preamble had died and why there hadn't been a funeral, but aloud, she just looked between the two women for several moments before leaning back in her seat. She took a breath, folded her hands over her stomach, and said, "Go on."

"...okay right," Madalene said looking back at the second officer before starting, "First we'll need to replicate some of the Union uniforms, ranks and then myself and commander Petrova well head over to the station to do some simple diagnostics which'll give me access I need to put in a backdoor to their LCARs."

"There is a risk of getting caught, though. Either by random patrol or by inadvertently triggering an alarm while infiltrating. I'm not entirely convinced we would be able to convincingly pull off Terran Union Officers." Kristiana didn't want to be a Debby Downer, but a risk assessment was an integral part of any proposal.

"The union has thus far given us access to a considerable portion of their database, naturally without the classified matters," Mal said thoughtfully. "Do you have a specific endgame in mind for this backdoor access?" As captain, she could of course see all sorts of things, but she wanted to know what these officers were thinking.

"Ideally to get all the access with none of the problems and restrictions." Kristnana ventured. "This idea is Madalene's brainchid, I saw merit in her method of thinking outside the box and found the idea viable enough to present to you for consideration." she added.

"If we want to get home. Get back to the right timeline I think we need unfettered access to their LCARs. And if we can't get back to our timeline we are also gonna need compete unfettered access to stay ahead of the Union. This'll give us that advantage." Madalene said simply.

As a captain who had already lost so many of her people, the response that first jumped to Mallory's mind was simply: 'What, are you fucking nuts?!' ...but she didn't say that aloud, and she was relieved that neither of these officers were telepaths. She let herself think about it. Be rational.

"We can certainly use all the advantages we can get," she said slowly, "but we do not yet truly know the Terran Union is our enemy." Saying that tasted bad, however. "Pushy and bossy, yes, but ultimately, we are a stranger in a strange land. They are the natives, and they are cautious. This plan, while intriguing, is incredibly risky. Incredibly risky, and may in fact prove to the union that we are the enemy."

She paused, her eyes swinging between the two to see if they had anything to say to that.

Madalene bit her lip fighting the urge to lash out. But it did take a moment for her to realize that was the risk worth the reward. "I do realize that this is a risky move maybe we hold-off on this until we know what we are actually dealing with the Union. Or until we have a game plan of getting home."

"Agreed." mused Kristiana. "Let's keep this idea in mind for possible future implementation, in case the situation changes - unfavorably."

"I appreciate the idea," Mal said with a small smile. "And let's keep studying and figure out ways to possibly do it, should the need arise. But the Odin is in no place right now to make an enemy out of the Terran Union, and possibly this entire Alliance of Worlds. We'll need to be cautious."

"Of course captain," Madalene said understanding that this was the right move but. also struggling with her plan being shot down. With that Madalene went back to attention her PaDD behind her back.

Kristiana stood in attention and gave a nod. "Agreed, captain." she spoke, voice firm, before following Madalene out, giving the other officer a pat on the shoulder as she did. ""You encountered a problem, thought of a solution and looked outside the box. That's all I'm looking for in an officer. Next time better." she mused.

Capt Mallory Thorne, CO, USS Odin/LtCmdr Kristiana Petrova, 2XO, USS Odin/Lt Madalene Sabine, COps, USS Odin

 

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