USS Sojourner – Bridge 9:00

Kirin stepped onto the bridge of the USS Sojourner and was greeted by Lieutenant Belania. “Morning Captain. Hope you had a restful night?”

“Thank you, Lieutenant, anything to report?” Kirin responded as she took a seat in the command chair and pulled up a list of updates on the chair’s arm display.

“The resupply was able to start early last night; one of the ships here was redirected so we got bumped up in the queue. They should be done in the next couple of hours.” Belania said from the Ops station. As she finished speaking the console chimed, “Captain, there is a message from Starfleet for you.”

“Oh, I’ll take it in my ready room,” Kirin responded as she stood up, heading towards the door.

A moment later Kirin sat at the desk in her ready room and open the console. On her screen, her inbox replaced the Starfleet logo and only one unread message. After several minutes and several rereads of the new orders Kirin sighed, stood up and walked back to the bridge.

“Belania, recall the remaining crew from Deep Space 9, we have new orders. As soon as the resupply is done and everyone is accounted for we head for Starbase 38 at maximum warp; we are heading for the Delta Quadrant.

USS Sojourner – in orbit around Starbase 38

November 1st, 2400 – 8:30

Kirin sat in the briefing room with the rest of the Sojourner senior staff. “As you are all aware we have been ordered to take part in the relief force following the discovery of the Blood Dilithium in the Gradin Belt of the Delta Quadrant. Over the last couple of weeks, there has been an increase in distress calls from vessels both from the Alpha and Beta quadrants but also from the Delta quadrant. As of this morning the new orders we have been waiting on arrived. I have sent you the orders, but in summary, we are to respond to any distress calls, provide aid when and where we can, and study the dilithium and associated anomalies to discover its origin. Any questions?”

Thanen, the XO, leaned forward with a frown, “I know other ships are going through but we will effectively be alone once we move further from the wormhole and Markonian Outpost. I know the crew is up to it but I think we should continue to put them through their paces. I am also concerned about the reported effects it has on individuals with telepathic abilities. We only have a handful, mainly Vulcans, such as Petty Officer Sorrolk. I can set up a briefing with them regarding this.”

“Good idea, I will leave you to that and it brings us to the next point. Any updates on the EMH?” Kirin asked, looking at Belania and Thanen.

Belania sighed, “Yes and no. We can see that the programme has a lot of extra data stored within it but we are unable to purge the data without deleting the EMH. I had been trying to isolate the base programme but I have had no luck, the programme seems to react to anything we do and stops us.”  Thanen nodded in agreement “There is nothing wrong with the physical memory stores. It is very odd, what gets me is that the programme seems very similar to the EMH on the Daradax, it was a prototype from what I gathered.”

Kirin frowned but nodded, “Ok, I cannot say I am happy with this, we have no CMO and the EMH is down but we need to depart. Thankfully we have some very skilled nursing staff so let us hope for the best. I will notify Command that we are in desperate need of a replacement CMO. With luck, someone will be able to meet us on the other side.”

Kirin turned to Ril, “From a tactical stance how are we faring? The Delta Quadrant is a dangerous place. It is possible we will encounter the Devore, Hirgoen or even the Borg, we are far too close to their space for comfort. Either way, I will not let them board this vessel.”

Ril grinned wickedly, “All our weapon and shield systems are fully operational and top of the line but when it comes to a fight speed is our best option. I would not recommend going toe-to-toe if we can avoid it. From a security standpoint, I have been running the teams through drills regularly, as you are aware, but shifted those when we headed to Starbase 38 to focus on the Devore, Hirogen and even the borg but if it gets to that we would be in a lot of trouble.”

“Thank you Ril, we are going there to fight but I am glad to hear everything is operating as needed and your teams are training for this,” Kirin said before glancing at Kerry. “Kerry, you have been reviewing the reports from the USS Merevek anything you want to add?”

Kerry straightened in her seat, “Not much really until I get a chance to look at a sample of the dilithium but we will need to find a way to get it on board and quarantine so it doesn’t impact the crew. A level 3 containment field may do the trick but I would suggest we maintain a distance of at least 10,000Km from any highly concentrated deposits. Smaller deposits we should be able to approach. Though we could always take a shuttle or the Waverider if needed.”

Kirin and the others nodded at Kerry’s recommendations, “Thank you, Kerry. We will be departing Starbase 38 shortly. I don’t know what we will encounter but I have no doubt you and your departments are up to the task.” Turning to Thanen, “Please have that briefing with the telepaths on board before the end of the day. Kerry, please join him as well. Dismissed.”

At that, they all stood and filed out while Kirin remained in her seat for a few moments longer before she walked out onto the bridge and looked around. Unlike the bridges of some of the large vessels, the Sojourner’s was small with only a couple of stations for the crew. She walked up to the conn and looked down at Ensign Dese Tycon, the young Orion nodded up at her, “Ma’am?”

“Ensign, keep an eye on the rest of the ships, as soon as they start to move towards the entrance to the wormhole let me know,” Kirin said with a smile before turning to head to her ready room. Before she left the bridge she glanced at Belania currently at the operations console, “You have the bridge Belania.”