Talking Heads

Posted on Sat Mar 15th, 2025 @ 7:21am by Lieutenant Commander Brianne Redstone & Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren & Lieutenant Commander Rowena McGowen & Lieutenant Ja'sol H'ros & Lieutenant Kolok & Lieutenant Commander Hermia O'Rourke & Lieutenant Vura & Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble & Captain Edmund Merrick & Staff Warrant Officer Rommie
Edited on on Sat Mar 15th, 2025 @ 9:11pm

3,895 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Episode 16 - Silent Cries
Location: Officer's Briefing Room - Deck 1 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD06 1100 hrs

Neil glanced around the conference room. He stood at the front of the table, looking at Pioneer’s department heads. With the ship pulling away on an unsanctioned mission, he’d decided to get the team together to make sure all departments were running smoothly.

And if not, to find out why and make sure whatever was gumming up the works was fixed.

Rommie was standing at parade rest near the hatch, dressed in what was becoming her more customary uniform of the day was the Fleet skant in charcoal and marine green, with knee boots. Her large black eyes flickered around the room, focusing on the Colonel (who was wearing the black and tans he favored) and then back to a spot in the middle of the conference table.

Beverages had been issued, and her duty now was to observe and record.

Neil cleared his throat and said, “Ok people, we’re a day out of Empok Nor, heading into the unknown. I’d like a quick overview of your department and concerns or problems you’re either seeing or predicting. Hardware, software, or personnel. As always, if you have an issue, I’d like to know how you plan to fix it. Who wants to go first?”

Rowena shrugged; she looked a bit hazy. She was finally sleeping better, but she needed a lot more sleep to gain up all the sleep she had lost while she was possessed. "To start off, I don't really have anything to report that is a problem. I think the team I have got going is a great team. I was off since my 'ordeal', but they kept things going in my absence. Everyone knows their job. Intel is probably quite a boring department if I put it like that."

When Rowena spoke, Edmund's eyes went towards her, having a quiet smile. It did his heart good to see her. His gaze wandered towards to where Vura sat, the smile fading away. Even though Zhara had spoken to him about what was giving him trouble, he wasn't ready to talk to Vura just yet. He gave a quiet sigh, as he rubbed his left temple. Turning his attention to the rest of those gathered there, he saw those he was unfamiliar with. One woman had the colors of engineering. What happened to Elen? At the moment he had nothing to say as for a statement, a brief report for the Marines.

Nodding, Neil said, "Thanks Rowena. Glad you're doing better. Probably not a lot for Intel to give us on the Silence, but please analyze everything that comes in as we get it. I hate walking into a fight blind." At the sigh, he glanced at the Cure's CO and grinned, "Still got that leak Ed? How's the Cure?"

Edmund's eyes flared wide, he swiftly turned his gaze to Neil. "Yes, sir I mean no sir." His face turning red. "We've got some new Marines in along with the new Cure XO for them." He paused for a moment, then continued, "It seems that most of the new Marines are finding their way in becoming part of the Cure." His thoughts went to Jeksyne though, he wondered how long it would take for the rather guarded XO to open up and do some leading. "I will say this that they are chomping at the bit to get into some action. I am working on a training exercise for them, Colonel."

Nodding, Neil saw he'd gotten to Ed and that was enough for here. "Sounds good, Ed," he remarked. "Push the kids hard. We've got a lot on our plate coming up. I'll brief the Cure leadership soon. After this field trip, the Cure has Detachment scale training back on Mars when we head back to Sol system." Turning his eyes away from the marine, Neil looked around the table. "Next?"

"Science is ready, but my concern is more for the logistics. We'll need to have everything in place for wiping all information from the computer, except for what will be locked back in astrometrics as before. Do you and the captain have plans for that, or do you want science to see to the buried files as they'll be in our department while command deals with everything else? I ask because the Pioneer didn't foresee a need to return here, but Vaebn did. I'd like to be sure we have that fallback if we ever need it again."

Neil raised his eyebrows and then frowned. "I have no orders and no intention of forgetting anything about the Silence. They want our help, they have to deal with being known. So far, I have ordered Rommie to record and fully internalize the logs of this mission. If they decide to get cute and start stirring brains again, all of it goes to Brigade, Fleet and the Federation Council. And if they attack us, after we bail their behind out of this fire. Well." Neil smiled woflishly, "I'll do my best to ensure they regret that decision on a sub-molecular level."

Vura had noticed the smile that Edmund favored Rowena with. She also noticed that it faded when he looked at her. Well, enough time had gone by. It was time that Edmund and her had a chat. He was acting like a child avoiding her and admittedly, she had been trying avoidance to both give him space and to heal her own wounds. At this point, things were going to fester and that was worse.

She looked hard at Neil. She did not like the man at all. Her mother wisely told her, if you do not have anything nice to say, then don't say it. So, for now, she kept her icy silence, waiting to be called upon for an opinion that she was certain that Neil would hate.

After a few beats, Neil glanced at Alyssa to make sure she was heard and said, "Ok. I might have been a little intense, but yes, I plan on taking steps and any thoughts you want to add to the subject please do. And then there's Species 626D. They aren't likely to forget us after all this so...full spectrum analysis, samples the works in the labs, please."

Letting his eyes roam the table, he caught Vura's shifting and said, "Yes Counselor? Always glad to have someone volunteer."

"I think it is a mistake for you, Commander to go in and force a species hand. We're a humanitarian organization and while I do not like that word itself, as it is ethnocentric, the reality is, we help species because that is our mission. Our mission is not to force a species to reveal itself. Our good gesture may want them to make themselves known to us in the future, but demanding it makes us no more than a bully." And you have already proved that you are one of those. The crew can figure out the rest from this speech.

"I'll take it under advisement, counselor," Neil said mildly. "But they asked us back. There's going to have to be some give and take. And this is not a first contact or diplomatic meeting. From the sounds of it, we're going into a fight and that has all sorts of implications beyond the Pioneer."

Vura shook her head and simply replied, "I disagree. We have a Samaritan purpose above all."

"You're entitled to your opinion of course," Neil commented, not rising to whatever bait she was trying to fish with. "However, this is not the place for spirited debate on what is and what is not the purview. We're already beyond that by going off book. So, let's move along and I promise. you we can debate this later. At length if you like." Looking away at that point, he said, "Ok next?"

Alyssa understood the commander's concern as he didn't have all the information yet. She wasn't so sure about the counselor's response, though. "If I may clarify. From what little I know, they are xenophobic. Causing other species to forget is a method of self-preservation inherent in the species. Since Commander tr'Hwersuil and Commodore Malbrooke felt it important to remove all information on them and their planet, I think we should do all we can to do the same--including saving an encrypted file in case of future need. This is in addition to the aid we'll be rendering. I just want to know if I can be the one to gather the archival data, or if there's another plan in place."

Neil sat, letting them get it out. He'd been waiting for this so it was best to let things play.

Hermia sat quietly at her assigned seat, PADD and cup of coffee in front of her. So much was going on behind the words. She didn't even need to try, the emotion were so 'loud'. Embarrassment, indignation, hate, frustration, concern, etc.

Unable to handle it anymore, Hermia held her head in her hands and screamed "Quiet, all of you!"

Raising an eyebrow toward Hermia, Neil, "All right doctor. Give me more than that, then we'll get back to the counselor."

"I'm sorry, I'm having trouble controlling my psionic abilities, I request permission to leave the room for a moment in or to regain control, sir." Hermia said.

Grunting, Neil nodded and said, "Very well doctor. Get yourself wired and I'll be around to check up on you later on."

He was about to say more when the CEO's mouth opened.

Brianne finally decided to speak, "As far as I can see so far, engineering is running normally, nothing major to report, I've decided to leave things as they are and review them as I get more settled in. Commander Diari left some written notes regarding The Silence, but I'm having difficulty reading her handwriting, and Master Chief Llewellyn is compiling a report of his knowledge. I'm also hopeful that Ensign... Turner, I think his name is, will be able to reconstruct some data from the portable replicator's crystalline memory from the time."

Neil could nearly feel his eyes bleed, but he nodded. "Right. That sounds good. Glad you're up to speed and keep me informed if you need anything.

Neil was about to move on when Vura popped up.

Vura said, "Excuse me. I must look after Hermia. I will be back."

Mouth tightening slightly, he said "Alright." As the door cycled he turned back. "That's a point. Monitor those telepaths in your departments and make sure they're getting whatever help we can give. I'm afraid this is going to take a toll on all of us."

Clearing his throat again, Neil said. "Moving on. Who's next?"

"I think everyone is going to be affected by the Silence in one way or another," Alyssa said, not quite ready to move on. "May I suggest that each department head check on everyone in their department--especially telepaths? Perhaps one of the counselors can be assigned to receive all these reports, then give command notification of anyone who needs help."

Frowning, Neil looked at Alyssa, then toward the hatch most recently vacated by the entirety of Pioneer's Medical leadership. Then his jaw tightened and he said quietly. "Thank you Alyssa for repeating what I just said." Then he stood and looked over his officers and said in a now frosty tone. "Alright. Listen up. Yes, the crew is going to have some stress on them. They'e going to have to lean into their professionalism, training because we're not even under the assumption this time that we're on a routine mission. We're off book here and decidedly going toward the sound of the guns. At this point, we only know that some Xenophobic Species, who at one point decided the Pioneer had strayed too far into their territory and decided to mind wipe the entire crew. Or most of it."

Neil actually said to keep an eye on the telepaths. Alyssa suggested it include everyone, but she wasn't going to correct the colonel on the point. Too many people were already stressed over the situation.

Making sure he had all of their attention still, Neil paused then continued. "Tactically I can, only guess their initial intent was to destroy the Pioneer and something happened to make them change their minds. I say this, without any foundation, but it's what I would do in their place. All of a sudden, they are claiming to be under attack by an unknown force that their obvious well practiced isolationism can't handle and they're calling on us, and the Commodore has decided it's the thing to do to help them. We've all agreed to that so here we are."

Straightening, Neil knew some of his frustrations were leaking past. He took a breath, let it out and said, . I will not take this crew into harms way if there's a snowball's chance in hell of us not coming out the other side. As far as I'm concerned, we're going way out on a limb here. Our oaths are to the Federation and Starfleet. We're to follow the lawful, legal orders of those officers placed above us and are responsible for those we lead. So: Hold their hands. Pat their boo boo's. But this is a ship of the line. I shouldn't have to remind anyone of that. And if I do. Well..."

Then he looked at the door and said, "And, on a more personal level. Get your drahk together. If all this is too much for you, then put yourselves on medical and turn your duties over to your assistants. Be an example of what to do. This is not going to be a pleasure cruise. There's always a chance we'll lose people on a normal mission. This has all the hallmarks of being a combat one and we're going in virtually blind and under mental assault. I don't trust the Silence the tiniest bit."

He turned his gaze back to the table and Neil said, more mildly with a wry grin,. "Ok. So after that, who's next."

Ja'sol looked around the table with concern on his face. " Colonel, I'm only an empath, But with what we have going on in the ship right now it is effecting everyone aboard the ship. Those with Psionic abilities are being effected more then those without. But even those without are being effected at a lesser degree, Security has been trying to break up minor squabbles before they can erupt into something larger. The emotion in here is almost overwhelming. I was wondering if we could re engineer a medical device to help combat these effects. Is it possible to take a neural stimulator and reverse it to dampen the effects while one sleeps? "

Nodding, Neil said, "I've seen the reports. Keep up active patrolling and make sure people are going to see the counselor's as needed. If people need to blow off steam, get them into a sparring ring and call it defensive tactics training. We'll try to limit how many get put in hack over all of this." After a few beats, he added. "Good suggestion on something to help the crew, talk to science and medical when you have a moment and keep me in the loop."

Glancing around, his eyes fell on Operations. "Mr. Kolok?"

Kolok was internally horrified at the lack of professionalism he was witnessing. He had no intention of telling anyone else how to act but he was worried that the entire crew's emotions were being influenced by the Silence even now. He felt nothing like what he was hearing the other department heads say. On a Klingon vessel, the reactions to such displays would have been quite simple. Violence and submission. On a Federation ship, he would have expected more decorum before such a risky mission. He felt it best to just give his report.

"Sir, it is my duty to report that after a thorough review of the Pioneer's systems, as related to Operations, the ship is not at peak efficiency. I have spoken to the CO about my concerns. Energy systems are degraded to 87% and computer efficiency is at 91%. I have solutions to improve performance but I don't think I'll have the time before we arrive," Kolok said in his rumbling tones. "I also would like to recommend that we evaluate the best course of action for the retention of the data about the Silence. If I hadn't located the file left behind, we would be in a much worse situation. Finally, I am an accomplished warrior and would be happy to participate in any combat actions."

Refolding his arms, Neil said, "Well that won't do. But it's what we have. Work on it and get with other departments to get those systems back within expected parameters. I appreciate the offer and if we need more boots on the ground, I'll keep you in mind."

Having heard from most of his department heads, Neil consulted his agenda and made eye contact with Rommie.

The hologram nodded, confirming she'd taken notes and would prepare the Colonel's bullet points for review before he talked to the Commodore.

There was a lot going on, at this department meeting. Edmund hadn't expected things fraying at the edges, as much as was being indicated. In just a matter of moments, he found information that he hadn't known before. He also was fraying, and it wasn't good. There were quite a few empaths here.

Brianne looked up at that "87% ? Thank you for telling me that, Lieutenant. I'll get onto it once this meeting concludes, and I'd like to hear your ideas for improvement whenever you have the time."

Kolok nodded. "Yes, Commander. My last posting was the USS Iowa and I assisted with her recent refit. I think some of those new ideas can be applied to the Pioneer. I will schedule a time to speak with you."

Neil looked around the room again and said, "Some of you probably haven't met her yet. This is Rommie. She's a hologram as you've likely gathered and has been assigned to me as an aide. She's more than that, they had to sort her somehow so she's listed as a Warrant. She doesn't have the full run of the ship per the Commodore's orders, but she has the run of Marine country; my office and quarters and pretty much anywhere I'll be save the bridge. If you need something from me and she answers a comm., you can talk to her and she'll make sure I'm kept aware. Likewise, if she talks to you in my name, you can trust it's really coming from me."

"Thank you all for your reports. We'll get updated from medical as soon as possible. I or Rommie will be around to check in with you randomly as well. Especially the closer we get to contact with the Silence. Any questions or comments?"

Edmund kept quiet, he hadn't anything else to say. Didn't want to say anything as he didn't want to put his foot into his mouth any further than what he had. Right now he was wishing he had picked up some coffee when he came in. After this he's gonna need to go work out some frustrations as what Tremble had suggested. Mik's gym was already sounding promising.

Alyssa had more she wanted to say, but Tremble missed that she hadn't actually repeated what he said, rather added to it, and she didn't want to feed the growing tension in the room. It wasn't that important, anyway. However, the buzzing in her head from the over-loud fragments of thought and overwrought emotions, plus Hermia's mental and verbal shout, were giving her a pounding headache. She needed to go somewhere quiet after this. She wanted to see Jek'Lar, but that wasn't possible until they returned to Empok Nor. So, she'd settle for some quiet solitude.

Vura chased after Hermia, concerned for her friend. Her voice was pleading, "Hermia, wait up. Talk to me."

"I'll be okay, just so many strong emotions in such a small area." Hermia said. "I just need a few minutes." She added as she sat down on the deck.

"Are you certain, Hermia?" Vura asked worried. "Do you want to talk about it, at all?"

"It's just this mission, I'm not getting enough sleep, these nightmares that can't even remember, are unsettling me." Hermia said.

"I know. There's a lot of people affected. I just don't know why it is some and not others." The Counselor sighed. "Are you able to still perform your duties? Is it becoming too much? You do have help, Hermia. Other doctors...."

"You're right, I shouldn't be so stubborn, I'll ask Doctor Spencer or Doctor Goldberg to cover for me. I'll also contact my mother, see if she can help me regain my focus." Hermia said. "Thank you, Vura."

"For what?" Vura asked.

"For checking on me." Hermia said. "And for being my friend."

Vura smiled bashfully. "Not a problem. I'll let the Colonel know that you won't be coming back. He'll likely be pissed at me, but what else is new?"

Hermia gave a weak smile. I left my PADD in the room, with my report and questions on it. Feel free to present it for me, if you like," she said.

"If that is what you want, I will." She smiled weakly. "He's still going to be angry with me, but that is not your issue."

"Remind me to take you dancing." Hermia said, rising to her feet and started making her way back to her quarters.

"That's what Merrick said. Didn't work out so well," Vura replied wryly. "In any case, get some rest."

"My aren't you popular." Hermia teased.

"Ed," Neil said as the Department heads filed out. "Stand fast."

A Joint Post By

Captain Edmund Merrick
Company Commanding Officer Officer, The Cure
USS Pioneer