Gettysburg Mission 06: "To BEE or Not to BEE"

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USS Gettysburg was dispatched to system Nehru IV to investigate and halt production of a suspected bioweapon manufacturing operation being performed by Federation scientists.


Logs

Captain's Logs

Commodore Derrick Grant

Star Date 20808.23

Captain’s Log, Star Date 20808.23, Captain Derrick Grant recording:

Upon departure from Star Base 157 I invoked the Gettysburg’s independence initiative and set course for Risa, at Warp 9. That is where the SF:SIS team is presently operating, and also the location of a contact I need to see on another Intel matter. I had hoped to lump the two into one, and personally oversee the SF:SIS mission. I figured the Gettysburg could sit there for a few days while I helped sort things out.

With Commander Yvette out of commission due to her breakdown following my informing her of LCdr Tei’s likely demise, Star Fleet saw fit to appoint me one “Commander John Reynolds” as Acting First Officer. I was less than thrilled.

Especially after I tried to read his record.

His record has more holes in it than mine, and that’s saying something. There is something distinctly un-right about him and I suspect Smith sent him to babysit me. If that’s the case, I’ll just add it to the reasons to kill Smith when I see him again.

Upon arrival at Risa, I received new orders, directing me to turn over command of Gettysburg to Yvette and depart the ship; to head off on a mission which I can’t even put in my logs at this time. I was assured that the move would be temporary, however I can’t help but wonder if this is just a way to get me out of the way, or to see if I’d break cover to anyone—including Sevala.

I did not.

As soon as I beamed down, I released the lock-out on the ship’s orders and Yvette was presumably informed of the mission that they were to undertake. I must admit that I would have enjoyed it some, as it looked like something a bit out of the ordinary from the file I saw—but it was not my path.

Upon arrival on Risa I met up with an old… partner. T’Ral worked on me in a few long-term operations a half-dozen years ago where we posed as a couple. Although we were never intimate physically, we did have a partial meld once, and I must admit it was interesting. Our interest in one another grew to the point where I requested reassignment so that I wouldn’t do something that would jeopardize any operations or my career. That’s one of the events that led me to SBA and eventually Gettysburg.

Now we appear to be destined to work together, posing once again as Michael Swanson and Sera; art dealer and journalist for the FNN. Our mission has already made me uncomfortable, and I long for my Sevala every time I look at T’Ral. Our reuniting can’t come quickly enough.

End log.

Star Date 20810.25

Captain's Log, Star Date 20810.25, Commodore Derrick Grant Recording:

I have returned to Gettysburg, in orbit of Nehru IV-D. It appears that there was some sort of anomalous comet making its way through this system. Apparently it changed course and moved at faster-than-light speeds and yet no one on my ship has paid it any serious attention, other than to move out of its way.

I will question the Chief Science Officer, who happens to be on the bridge, to get to the bottom of this.

My mission seems to be going well, and things on the ship have been maintained well as far as I could tell on my arrival.

From what I've ascertained, they went to the labs, took Derricote into custody, and did little else except annoy a swarm of bees. Commander Reynolds, who led the away team, returned and promptly vomited all over Ensign Laxius; and then left Lieutenant Junior Grade Seria—a new addition of which I had not been fully briefed—in command. I will have to catch up on my briefings at my earliest convenience.

I am gone a less than two weeks and so much happens.

Commander Yvette is apparently in the Observation Lounge interviewing Derricote. While my instincts tell me to conduct this interview myself, I feel it might be best to let Yvette have her hand at it. The I can explain to her where she erred and re-intervew the doctor. It might look like a 'good cop/bad cop' scenario to her which can help in getting information.

On a personal note, I visited Sevala shortly after I arrived. The woman is voracious! Her appetite is something to be revered, and perhaps feared. Who would have known that being away from her lover for 10 days would have left her so... needing.

I expended so much energy with her that I required a supplement almost immediately, lest I collapse unconscious. I will admit that replicating it wasn't as good as making it from the natural ingredients, but it served the purpose.

End log.

[Log invalid. Recorded by Satarran Imposter.]

Commander Aloysia Yvette

Star Date 20809.09

Acting Captain’s Log Stardate 20809.09, Commander Aloysia Yvette recording:

We are enroute to the Nehru system, where we have been sent to apprehend a scientist by the name of Doctor Lowra Derricote. We were told by Star Fleet Command, who got the information from Star Fleet Intelligence, that she has been working on a biological weapon to specifically target Romulans. We are to take her into custody, and disable her laboratory. We weren’t told whether or not to destroy her work, and I am inclined to keep it, and lock it up, of course. As one of the Department Heads pointed out, she could have the information duplicated and in another location. In that case, we need the original research in order to combat any weapon that might have been created.

Commodore Grant is off the ship and has left me in Command. He told me he was going down to Risa for some kind of meeting and that he would be out of contact, or we would have picked him up before the mission started. I think that everyone knows he’s not really at a meeting. I did leave a message at the Risan Federation embassy for him, just in case.

Commander John Reynolds is acting First Officer. Originally, we thought he was here as a Strategic Operations Officer in the absence of Commander New. However, we now know that he is part of Star Fleet Internal Investigations. I have no idea why SFII would need to investigate the Gettysburg, especially in a time of war, but I am confident that we will pass the examination.

As for Reynolds himself…I don’t think anyone on the crew likes him. Some of the Department Heads in our mission briefing even walked the line of disrespecting him. I completely understand why. Commander Reynolds has a very abrasive personality. He is condescending and arrogant. He also doesn’t seem to respect any member of this crew, though he hasn’t done anything worth reporting as of yet. He has been very close, however. I am hoping that he gets his investigation done quickly so that he can move on and the Gettysburg can return to a semblance of normal.

The Department Heads themselves are all doing well. The recently promoted Lieutenant Commander Eaglestone, our Chief Engineer, has some good ideas for upgrading the warp core, but as it is a sensitive area and we would have to bring the core offline to finalize the upgrades, I have asked him to hold off until we are docked at a Starbase. It is inevitable that with the core offline, we would be attacked.

Tactical is working with Engineering to find a way to destroy the Nehru outpost if we need to. It is a last resort, but if the biological weapon was somehow released to the outpost’s occupants, we need to contain it. I will not let something like that spread to Romulan civilians. Tactical is also running drills on the chance that we are attacked by the Romulan or by the Cardassians, as we will be near the latter’s border.

Science and Medical are working together to find a way to combat the potential weapon. I’m not exactly sure how they are going to do this, as we have no information on the weapon itself. But, they can prepare and start thinking about it, which will definitely help.

Security has a very defined role during this mission: they will be responsible for taking Derricote into custody and keeping her confined. They also may run into trouble with the other outpost occupants if they have fallen under the doctor’s spell. We’ll have to see how things play out.

Right now, I’m planning to send an away team to get Derricote and her research. We don’t know what we’ll find when we enter the Nehru system, however, so we’ll have to wait and see.

End log.

Star Date 20812.19

Acting Commanding Officers Log Stardate 20812.19

After all we have been through I didn’t think it could get this bad. But it has. I don’t think we could get through this without the USS Iron Horse. At least that went right. At least they saw what happened before they warped out of the system.

It all started when Commodore Grant departed the ship at Risa, telling me he was going for a meeting on the surface. I doubt that was what really happened. In fact, I don’t even know if he was the real Commodore Grant at that point. But let me tell the story in sequence.

Commodore Grant left the ship, and shortly after he departed, I received orders to take us to the Nehru System immediately in order to investigate the possibility that they were creating a biological weapon targeted to Romulans. We were ordered to apprehend the head researcher, Doctor Derricote, and destroy her laboratory.

With Commodore Grant gone, I was acting Commanding Officer. I put Commander Reynolds from Internal Investigations in as acting First Officer because he was the highest ranked officer and it just seemed right. I didn’t want to take the Department Heads away from their departments.

When we arrived at the Nehru system, I sent an away team led by Reynolds to collect Doctor Derricote for questioning. I didn’t want to send a team into the facility to find the virus blind. However, though they were only to pick up Derricote, the away team managed to get into trouble. They were stung by bees, which seems rather innocent, except it has led to disaster.

Reynolds brought Derricote back to the Gettysburg, and she proved largely uncooperative. Eventually, she ordered her researchers to send us their data, but of course that wasn’t what we needed.

It was at this time that the Iron Horse showed up, and the man we thought was Commodore Grant returned to the ship. In the midst of this, we detected a comet that was heading directly toward the ship. We hadn’t detected it previously, and it seemed to alter course and speed, so we deemed it worth investigating. However, after I surrendered command to Grant, he sent me to Sickbay to see how Commander Sevala and Lieutenant Tucker were doing on assimilating the data from the research facility.

While I was in Sickbay, we got reports of an odd illness that had affected a crewmember, Mr. Hicks. I will provide a copy of his medical file with this log. However, before I could find out more, Commodore Grant ordered me to take an away team to the facility. Well, two away teams, actually: one team to investigate the facility and a back up security team.

I went ahead with this, and left the Gettysburg aboard the Aeion with the investigative team. The Kumari followed with the Security Team. However, before we could descend to the facility, I received a report from the Gettysburg that Commodore Grant was actually an intruder.

We discovered that the intruder had separated the ship, ejected the warp cores, and launched the Bridge module and the Captain’s yacht, the Shenandoah. I decided that the most prudent thing to do was return to the ship, though since the investigative team couldn’t do much to help, I told them to continue with their mission. I transported to the Kumari.

We retrieved the Bridge crew, and sent Commander Eaglestone to the computer core to investigate why we did not have control of the Gettysburg. I also sent Lieutenant Harriman to recover the Shenandoah and use it to retrieve our warp cores.

It was around this time that the Iron Horse returned to offer assistance, and I received orders from Star Fleet Command to destroy the Nehru facility. I asked the Iron Horse to assist by helping with our warp cores and evacuating the facility, and ordered the Aeion crew to download the computer data from the facility and aid in the evacuation.

I also received a report from the Gettysburg Sickbay that the virus that had started with Hicks had evidently spread and dozens of crew members were infected. Sevala, now aboard the Kumari, scanned the shuttle crew and discovered that we were all infected as well. I have yet to display symptoms, however.

Sevala instigated quarantine protocols aboard the Gettysburg, and then she transported to Sickbay. The Kumari docked with the Gettysburg, and I, along with the Security team led by Lieutenant Ristone, donned environmental suits so as not to infect any of the crew. We departed the Kumari for the Battle Bridge.

Oh, I should mention that the comet had been taken care of by this time, but it was still a mystery that we haven’t yet solved, though I now have some theories.

Anyway, we arrived on the Battle Bridge to find Ensign Aldran. He was immediately a suspect because of the intruder. I place him under guard, but allowed him to continue his duties. I needed a tactical officer.

Lieutenant Nygard arrived shortly carrying the head of a species I haven’t seen before. He claimed it was the intruder, and I have to say I believe him. However, Ristone was quick to point out that there could be others aboard.

If the situation wasn’t bad enough, reports came in about a torpedo-like object that had come out of nowhere and started attacking the Shenandoah with what appeared to be either phasers or disrupters. I don’t remember. Almost simultaneously, Sickbay reported that those infected with the virus had spontaneously turned into giant bees that were attacking the medical staff and other patients. I am sorry to report many casualties.

We managed to destroy the torpedo, but the resulting explosion caught the Shenandoah and the Kumari. They are both in bad shape. I have asked the Iron Horse to transport the members of the Kumari aboard their vessel for treatment. I still haven’t received a report on the Shenandoah.

I also asked the Iron Horse to transport all of those trapped in Main Sickbay to their vessel. I have sealed Main Sickbay so that none of the bees can leave and no one can go in. Sevala and her team are with Doctor Derricote in Isolation, and Doctor Yamazaki is in Research trying to figure out this virus. They are supposed to be coordinating with the research facility. I have delayed the evacuation and destruction of the facility until we can fix things here on the Gettysburg.

With the Iron Horse taking care of our patients and watching our back, I hope to be able to reinstall the warp cores and bring the saucer and secondary hull back together. Hopefully the torpedo-shuttle was the only threat out there.

End log.

Star Date 20901.08

Supplemental, End of Mission Log

Acting Commanding Officers Log Stardate 20901.08

This mission was a complete disaster. I have just looked over my last log, and I will pick up where I left off.

Almost immediately after we destroyed the torpedo and requested help from the Iron Horse, a Romulan Tal Shiar ship decloaked and attacked the Iron Horse. It didn’t have time to rescue the crew left on the Kumari and Shenandoah or those trapped in Sickbay. There was a moment of miscommunication in which Ensign Aldran fired on the Romulan warbird. Now, at this point we did not have warp power and the ship was still in pieces. The Iron Horse is just a transport, and all of the launched shuttles were compromised. We were no match for the Romulan vessel.

I ordered the Gettysburg and our various constituents to stand down, but keep shields raised. We didn’t have any other choice, and in hindsight, I am confident that it was the right decision. I then contacted the Romulan vessel to negotiate. I figured they had somehow heard about the virus, and wanted it destroyed just as Star Fleet did.

It turned out that I was right. The Romulan captain, Enarrien Varel, demanded all computer records, documents and samples pertaining to this virus along with those responsible for its implementation. I knew I couldn’t do this because putting a virus that affected so many in the hands of the Romulans was suicide and homicide.

While I was communicating with Varel, I also ordered available Tactical Officers to the shuttles remaining in the Shuttlebay, asking them to take care of the transports I had previously requested. Lieutenant Breckenridge, now acting Chief Tactical Officer, rallied a group together and took care of those trapped in Sickbay. The Kumari and the Shenandoah eventually managed to get back to the Gettysburg on their own.

Anyway, the Enarrien did not appreciate my refusal, even though I offered to negotiate a compromise. The Romulan vessel fired on the Nehru research facility, destroying the above-ground levels and overloading the power generator. Many of the civilians and most of my crew were in the lower levels, thankfully, and we were able to rescue them using the shuttles and aid from the Iron Horse.

Evidently deciding that destroying the facility was enough to eradicate evidence of the virus, the Tal Shiar ship cloaked and left the system.

Meanwhile, Tucker and Ristone worked out a way to calm the bees in Sickbay using smoke. Oh, I don’t remember if I mentioned this before, but the virus that infected the crew genetically altered those who reached the last stages so that they turned into giant bees. These bees had huge stingers that killed or injured many officers, and other than their size, they acted like normal bees, from what I understand.

Anyway, Midshipman Howard managed to use the smoke idea to calm the bees in Main Sickbay. During all these events, Doctors Sevala and Yamazaki were working on curing the virus. They managed to work out a method of resequencing the DNA of those in the earlier stages of the infection so that the virus didn’t continue to alter their DNA. This only delayed the inevitable, however. In the end, it was a finely tuned sonic wave that destroyed the virus. The credit of that idea goes to Commander Sevala. Without her, the Gettysburg could very well have been a bee hive by now.

However, though those in the earlier stages in the virus were cured, there was nothing we could do about those in the later stages. They had either already become bees or were going to, and the effects of the virus were irreversible. This group constituted about 600 people, one quarter of the crew.

Of course, we did not have the facilities to keep all those who had not yet made the change in stasis, and we couldn’t accommodate killer bees. I was not willing to lose more crew. Plus, there was the possibility of the virus mutating within those we could not cure and infecting the crew all over again.

In the end, there was really only one decision to be made, and I was the one who had to make it. After we rescued the crew from the Nehru facility, I ordered the shuttles to begin transporting those we couldn’t save to Cargo Bay 3. I then proceeded to use toxic gas to end their lives.

I can’t help but feel like a monster for doing it, but I truly did not see any other option at the time, and nor do I now. There was no way we could control 600 giant killer bees without losing more crew or starting a new infection. I may be court martialed, and I may go down in history as a killer, but I don’t know what else I could have done.

In the end, we were able to get the ship back together. There is some minor damage from the comet that hit the ship early in the mission, and it will likely need to be inspected due to the separation, but we’re going home relatively intact this time. It seems anticlimactic after losing so many crew members.

End log.

Crew Logs

Tactical

Ensign Horza Aldran, Tactical Officer

Star Date 20901.06

Ensign Horza Aldran, Tactical USS Gettysburg Star date ; 20906.06

This is my first log since being posted to the USS Gettysburg. I have very mixed feelings. In fact, and I say this in confidence, I am very confused. I do not feel as if I have jelled with the crew yet. I arrived on the Iron Horse, amidst the recent almost disastrous mission. The crew has undoubtedly been through a lot, lost a great deal of people. There was an intruder on board, and this caused lots of confusion and suspicion among us. I was accused of being a traitor. I also fired upon the Romulan war bird when it materialized in front of us. Looking back, I realize that this may have not been the wisest thing to do…..yet, I still can’t help but feel I acted with the best interests of everyone in mind. That Romulan fired first, against the Iron Horse. An unprovoked attack.

My feelings towards the Romulans are slowly becoming clearer in my mind. I have just had another evaluation with my acting CTO, and he has recommended that I speak to the Counselor. I will do this, as I have also meditated, using the teachings of my Tanindo to guide me. If ever I needed to speak with my old sensei, it is now.

I cannot, will not forget what the Romulans have done….and I also know that it is not all Romulans, although differentiating between the war mongers and the common man is growing difficult. Those that have taken this fight to us, I will resist with the last breath in my body.

I have been retuned to Star Fleet. Been returned to here, and I am glad. I feel considering I went to Acamar whilst being AWOL I have been treated fairly by my supervisors. I have been given this second chance, and truth be told, I am not sure if I deserve it…….so many wrongs to right.

I thought of Emilia the other day. Wondered where she is now, what she thinks of me. If only I could see her again, try and explain why I had to leave…I know I should have done that before I left, but at the time, I knew if I had tried, she would have talked me out of it. I miss her……

I cannot dwell on these things. To do so, feeling anger at what has been done goes against all that I have learnt of Tanindo. I will speak with the Counselor, I will work hard now at my duties, try and gain some of the trust I have lost with Yvette and the others.

I have eleven hours now before I start duty again…these long double shifts are taking their toll on everyone, yet we are nearly completed on the repairs, and will be back at Starbase before long. I am going to use some of this time to rest.

End Log.

Midshipman Gav, Tactical Officer

Star Date 20809.09

Tactical Midshipman Gav, Personal Log, Stardate 20809.9

Well I am here, and serving aboard the best starship in the fleet, USS Gettysburg. Or so I thought. I am miserable. Nothing is as I thought it would be. I am having a hard time fitting in with these people. Today, after a crisis with a comet, it had changed course to hit us; most comets don't do that, the Commodore walked off the bridge, completely discounting my report of possible enemy fire or saboutage and called the a new officer to his Ready Room for a private meeting! The look on his face was disgusting. I am no prude. I am married with children, but I have never seen a more covetous, lustful, unprofessional 'meeting' in all my life! And then, to top it off, the CO puts up a privacy shield around his Ready Room. That just looks bad. What kind of a man am I serving? How could a Star Fleet Commodore be such a lecherous pervert? I understand that people are people and whenever you put people into a closed environment, under the stress we all face; things may happen. It is part of the reason why it is so hard for Star Fleet personnel to carry on long term relationships. It seems Humans seem to have more difficulty with this than most other species. At least Denobulians are frank about their open relationships.

If I did not know better, I would suspect that the Commodore Grant that suddenly appeared on the bridge, unannounced, was not the man I have heard about! I am so new on the ship, I have not had time to establish any relationships with my crew mates. Nobody would believe me! They would think I was one of 'those' Tellarites who just like to make trouble for troubles sake. Or simply, disloyal, or a know-it-all. Wait, he was immediately worried about Satarran infiltrators...could it be he is one? He did not receive a genetic examination from Security, announcing his had been done on the Ironhorse. I must quietly explore this.

Engineering

Security

Lieutenant Nick Ristone, Chief of Security

Star Date 20809.02

Chief of Security's Log, Star Date 20809.02, Lieutenant Nicholas Ristone recording:

My transition as Chief of Security on the USS Gettysburg is going much smoother than I once thought it would be.

I have so far received little to no outward display of resentment to my being named Chief on the ship, though I do know that some of that exist with some of the senior security officers.

I do not however record this log to talk about departmental personnel issues. I have recently been informed, via a senior officer meeting, that the Gettysburg is en route to the Nehru system to track down a rogue civilian scientist. It appears that this scientist, Dr Lorwa Derricote, has manufactured a biological weapon that targets Romulans. It is up to the Gettysburg to locate and apprehend her as well as disable her research.

While this appears to be a pretty cut and paste mission on the surface I fear that several unknown factors will play in to the occasion. During the meeting we were briefed by Commander Reynolds, who is acting First Officer while Commodore Grant is off the vessel, that we lost contact with a team of six security officers who worked with the doctor. According to Commander Reynolds, the security officers have less than stellar records - though I am currently waiting to review these records myself.

Regardless of who is involved I want to ensure that security is fully prepared for whatever we meet in the Nehru system. I plan on running drills with react teams as well as ensuring the Gettysburg would be ready if boarded. After all, the Federation is at war and a cloaked Romulan vessel could always be close.

End log:

Star Date 20811.20

Chief of Security's Log, Star Date 20811.20, Lieutenant Nicholas Ristone recording:

We arrived in the Nehru system as planned and while I am pleased to say that our away mission to the facility was largely a success, some interesting events have occurred on the ship since then. But, I don't want to get ahead of myself.

During the trip to the Nehru System Security prepared hard for many possibilities and I am proud to say the team was as prepared as I could have hoped for in such a short time. Commander Reynolds, had proven to be a competent leader, though not the easiest man to get along with.

The security team consisted of myself, Sethis, McGee, Wengler, and one of the newer members of the team, Midshipman Fitzalan-Howard. Howard had not been an original team member and therefore had not trained as hard as the rest of us. The Midshipman however, other than being a little trigger happy, not only met my expectations but exceeded them.

We were able to apprehend Doctor Derricote quickly and not only was my team not required to deal with the security team that was possibly rogue, but we did not even see them. The only strange occurrence on the entire mission was some free roaming bee's that stung the Midshipman. I have since been informed that the bee's appear to be harmless.

Since returning to the ship however several crewmembers have fallen ill to some mysterious stomach bug. The cautious person inside of me tells me this is no coincidence, however it appear that both people on the team and off the team were effected as well as some team members, such as myself, feeling fine. I am trying to remain optimistic that this is just some ship-wide bug and nothing more sinister.

The log paused here and then resumed a few seconds later

The USS Iron Horse has rendezvous with the Gettysburg to shuffle some crew around. Let it be placed in the records that out of several crewmembers that departed the Gettysburg one was Lieutenant Eaden, Chief Tactical Officer. I did not work with Eaden while she served but heard she was a fine officer.

The Gettysburg has also taken on the following security crewmembers: Ensign Drummond, Ensign Daniels, Crewman Madu, and Petty Officer Brown.

In addition, Commodore Grant returned on the Iron Horse, and seems to be a little on edge. This is the first time for me to work the same duty shift as the Commodore, but I cannot help but feel that the man is one edge about something.

The recording then paused again. It would not play the next section to anyone with under a level five intelligence clearance.

I have also received a message from the Commodore. I was able to confirm it was sent nearly twenty-four hours ago from a location off the ship. I have to assume that means it was from the Iron Horse. The message instructed me to investigate a crewmember of the Gettysburg for possible treason. I do not look forward to this task, but will pursue it with my full motivation. I have an interview set up with the Officer in one hour. I plan to get to the bottom of things as quickly as possible.

Another pause. For those without the security clearance to hear the previous point, this is where it jumped to.

Doctor Derricote has been placed in quarters and I have assigned a two-man team to stand guard outside of them. I have mixed feelings about letting someone who supposedly created a biological weapon to be so comfortable while on the ship, but seeing as how the arrangement was made by Commander Yvette herself, I have not raised my concerns vocally.

One thing is for sure. I am ready for us to get to the bottom of things here in the Nehru system so things can settle on the Gettysburg.

End log.

Ensign Charles Fitzalan-Howard, Security Officer

Star Date 20901.11

Personal Log, Stardate 20901.11: Ensign Charles Fitzalan-Howard recording:

Well here I am, finally getting around to recording my first personal log since joining the Gettysburg. I am not sure why I chose today to do this, it just seemed like the right time.

The Gettysburg, I remember my first impressions of her well, her titanic yet somehow infinitely graceful form gliding effortlessly through space. A place of marvels and horrors beyond the imagination as I was soon to find out. But it was also a ship a very much wanted to join, my dear friend Laura Macleod is a doctor here. I have always been very happy to be around her and could not wait to see her again, also I was able to present her with the sword I had designed for her. I was delighted that she liked my gift so much.

I was assigned to security as I had expected, my new department head was Lieutenant Nicholas Ristone. I took an immediate liking to him and over the past weeks he has proven himself an excellent superior officer.

Rather strangely I experienced a strange hallucination just before meeting Nick for the first time. It was as if I was standing upon a battlefield from the American civil war. Given the name of the ship this was more than odd, and in my case doubly so as I am not very susceptible to that kind of thing. It turned out that there have been a great many similar incidents amongst the crew and Nick has asked me to look into that. No progress so far unfortunately.

It has however this investigation that led to me meeting Lieutenant Judith Tucker for the first time. She is Chief Science Officer here and I was able to secure an appointment with her to discuss the hallucination data. Through a rather strange series of events, which I am reluctant to speak of here as it not my story alone to tell, I have developed deep feelings toward her. The wonder is that she seems to share these feelings. But it is early days yet. I think of her at the strangest times, and although we have had very little time together I treasure these moments. I keep telling myself that it is a very irrational to fall for someone so quickly. I am not usually prone to flights of fancy. but on the other hand there are mitigating circumstances that, as I recorded previously, I am not prepared to speak of it here.

For better, or for worse, I believe I may love Jude more than life itself.

As a result of meeting Jude I also met another amazing person. He is an old Ullian who works here as a gardener, so far as I can tell. His wife T'Derran is an engineer her and Noruas has chosen to serve by his wife's side as a civilian auxiliary. His name is Noruas Maniemara Therastos and he is the former Grand Master of the Ullian order of Adepts. Which means that at one point he was more or less in charge of their armed forces, so far as I can tell... I hadn't realised Ullia has armed forces, which is the whole point Noruas tells me. He is best described as a telepathic warrior monk although truth be told he reminds me more of one those 'Jedi' characters in those ridiculous old 2D Star Wars films. The good news that he has agreed to train me so I will finally be able to make some sense of my mental powers. The martial arts he knows are pretty spectacular as well. The down side to this is that I seem to learn martial arts through doing a lot of the old buzzards gardening.

Unfortunately there are other more unpleasant events that I would be remiss not to record.

Our mission to the Nehru system has been an utter disaster, there is so much to say that I am not quite sure where to start...

I remember being excited to be called suddenly to my first away mission. We descended in the shuttle to a federation science facility. Our orders were to arrest Doctor Derricote a human scientist who was thought to be involved in illegal research into biological weapons. The doctor had obeyed a orders to meet the shuttle and turn herself in. Ensign Sethis and I guarded the shuttle whilst Commander Reynolds, acting first officer and leader of the away team guarded the Doctor Derricote on the shuttle. Lieutenant Ristone led a small team into the facility to attempt to gain access to the research stations data store.

We had been guarding the shuttle for about ten minutes when a swarm of bees, which was strange in itself, issued out of a ventilation shaft and headed straight for the Shuttle. I have had experience with bees as a child on the Arundel estate and knew at once that both their presence and their behaviour was strange. I shouted a warning and phasered the swarm. The bees then attacked, normal bees would have had no way of knowing where the attack was coming, but this came straight for me. I had a line on the rest of the swarm when Ensign Sethis thrust a smoke grenade into my hands and obscured my shot. As a consequence I was stung before command Reynolds beamed us all back to the shuttle and commenced an emergency dust off.

The shuttle ride back to the ship was interesting, Laura Derricote slapped the hell of me for destroying her precious bees, and I don't think anyone was very happy with me shooting at all. The only thing I really regret is I didn't manage to fry all of them. Still their were three bees in my armour and the combat medic pronounced me, well, stung by bees basically. No real harm. Lieutenant Ristone ordered me to report to his office on landing.

Which I duly did.

I did my best to explain my prior experience with bees and why I had reacted as I did. I am not sure whether Lieutenant Ristone agreed with me or not. But I did pull immediate Armoury tidy up for my sins. I think it was a token punishment to be honest and I enjoyed the work, so there was no harm in that way. Except that perhaps I should have been quarantined with everyone else on that shuttle....

I remember Crewman Hicks was working security on the armoury. We chatted for a while and that's what probably killed him. I have not yet had any conformation of it one way or another, but it is highly likely that as a result of being stung, I became patient Zero. I remember Hicks said he was going on a date with Crewman Sienna in ten forward. Hicks was a charming fellow, always smiling and joking, he was also the first man to meet me when I boarded the Gettysburg. He became the first victim of the virus to enter sickbay, I am told the beautiful Crewman Sienna reported in about an hour later herself. Neither of them survived. Hicks wasn't the first to die though, that honour was reserved for Commander Reynolds.

The irony was that I went to sickbay around the same time as he did and I was apparently just fine. I had finished Armoury duty and was worried about being stung by bees originating from a facility producing bio weapons. The Doctors there performed a thorough medical but all they discovered was that I had a slightly elevated white blood cell count which was consistent with a slight infection resulting from being stung. The Doctor who saw me gave me a shot and told me to rest. I never did get a chance enjoy that rest as a Delta alert was called and I was ordered to report to the bridge.

Which is where the second hazard of our disastrous mission and I brushed shoulders.

The bridge was a hive of activity, 'Captain Grant' had returned from his mission and had taken charge. It turned out he was a Sataran imposter, although no one realised that at the time. The Satarran even volunteered itself to be blood tested, Lieutenant Ristone did the test himself, and the creature passed with flying colours. At the time the bridge crew were negotiating with the personnel of the science facility and attempting to deal with a comet that was passing through the system and exhibiting very strange behaviour at the same time. But the comet wasn't the only thing exhibiting strange behaviour...

We had a new Chief Tactical Officer, Lieutenant Seria, who was fresh from the Federation transport 'Iron Horse' that had joined us at Nehru to transfer new personnel and supplies. The Satarran had allegedly arrived on the same transport. She had been called to the captains ready room for briefing which was not that unusual in itself. What was strange that when she and 'Grant' returned to the bridge I spoke to her briefly and received a distinct mental picture of herself and the captain engaged in somewhat inappropriate behaviour. What was even stranger was that the mental picture reminded me of a doctored photograph, I had the distinct impression that her memory had been tampered with.

Not knowing what else to do I spoke telepathically with Adept Noruas and requested his help as this is exactly his area of expertise. This proved fortunate as apparently Noruas somehow confirmed to his satisfaction that 'Grant' was an imposter. I was not there to see it, but later Noruas, who is only a civilian auxiliary on this ship, disguised himself as a male nurse to gain entry to the bridge and attacked the Satarran with a deadly toxin. From what I understand he also fought a telepathic duel with it the monster very nearly killed him. But he succeeded in unmasking it and our Chief Medical Officer Sevala transported it to a medical isolation room in an attempt to trap it.

I was not there however. Returning from the ready room the Sataran took command and destroyed the comet, it also ordered Yvette to lead another away mission to the science station. It did so mainly to remove her from the bridge I believe.

I was part of the team assigned to the away mission. I was to command Chief Harpers squad and I am sorry to say he did not seem to like me very much. What made things worse was the fact that I was exhausted and hungry. I actually fell asleep on the shuttle and was awoken by none other than First Officer Yvette, a career limiting move I am sure. We never did get to Nehru as Yvette ordered our shuttle to return to the Gettysburg.

This happened because the somehow Satarran had escaped medical isolation and in so doing somehow managed to eject the ships warp cores, separate the bridge module, and launch the captains yacht. It was never seen alive again as it was killed by a crewman I haven't had the pleasure to meet. Apparently this same individual rather grotesquely delivered it's head to Yvette who was once again acting captain.

Acting Captain Yvette took the decision to remove the bridge crew using our shuttle which soon became very crowded. Our CMO decided to return to medical isolation where Laura Derricote was worrking on a now grievously sick Commander Reynolds. We had also received news that the virus was spreading through the ship and was desperate to get back in the fight against it. I used a comm badge to contact Hicks directly as normal communications were down to be told by a nurse that he was in sickbay and very unwell indeed. At this point I began to fear I was the carrier of the virus and requested permission to join Lieutenant Commander Sevala in isolation lab two, which Lieutenant Ristone granted.

I find that I do not have a great deal to say about what happened next. We watched as Reynolds and the Derricote transformed into giant bees. These I stunned whilst the CMO trapped them in a medical forcefield. I watched as over sixty patients suddenly transformed in sickbay and rampaged through the medical staff there. A security squad that tried to neutralise the threat killed a great many of them but were overwhelmed in the end. The CMO did not allow me to go to their assistance to my chagrin.

Later I was ordered to subdue the sickbay hive with smoke grenades by Lieutenant Ristone. It wasn't easy, but I got the job done on my own so as not to expose anyone else to my infection. There were a couple of really nasty moments. But I managed to return to the isolation lab safe and sound.

In the meantime a Romulan Warbird had appeared and fired on the station below.. Thankfully my friend Laura was not killed in this vicious attack; although she was part of a second shuttle crew that had gone on to investigate the station. Inexplicably the Warbird did not choose to destroy the helpless Gettysburg while it had the chance but left after bombarding the research station.

There are a great many things I did not witness personally, but I did see our CMO begin to fight the disease directly and she did eventually manage to cure a great many of the crew.

So we have come to the end. There have been many very busy days since the mission and on dark note. On the CMO's recommendation the Acting Captain ordered the incurable survivors gassed. I understand why she did this; but I do not approve of her methods. Not informing these people of their condition so they could make their own wishes heard was criminal. Perhaps they might have wished to send a final message, change a will, or submit to religious rights. Perhaps they would have asked for the bees they had transformed into to be kept safe somewhere in the hope that in the future a cure might be found. The thing that rankles me most that these people were denied these options.

So I end this log now on a somewhat sour note. Over six hundred crew were lost altogether and as the probable patient 0 I feel more than a little responsible for their death.

End log for now.

Science

Lieutenant Junior Grade Judith Tucker, Chief Science Officer

Star Date 20901.11

Chief Science Log, Stardate 20901.11 Lieutenant Junior Grade Judith Tucker recording:

The past mission to the science station on Nehru IV-D did not go as planned. Not only were we busy with investigating the facility and is research of a virus, but an impostor aboard the Gettysburg impeded our progress by separating our ship into pieces. This made it more than difficult to fully investigate the facility before it was destroyed before we had all the information, courtesy of a Romulan warship. Our away team managed to their way back to the ship with only one fatality, a commander in security.

I believe that the science department did as well as possible, under the circumstances. Things were happening throughout the ship. The virus was running quite rampant and if not for the earlier separation, we might have had more fatalities due to the virus. Lieutenant Scully managed to get to another part of the facility, that a Doctor Nadal used. I hope that the information has some answers.

Supplemental

Personal Log, Stardate 20901.11 Lieutenant Junior Grade Judith Tucker recording:

This mission has exhausted me and made me realize that I don't believe in my abilities of department head. I spent a lot of the time wondering what to do. I would ask Grant about it, but Commander Yvette has told us that he has been promoted to Rear Admiral. That means that we are without a captain, though Commander Yvette has done well in command. Perhaps Star Fleet will promote her to captain and let her remain here. I'm not sure if I can talk to the commander or not, but I will try.

I think I'm going to have to talk with Commander Sevala again as well. Perhaps if I try to get to know her, I won't be as intimidated....maybe.]

A sigh was heard from Judith and then she continued.

[I have also met someone. He has brought new feelings that I haven't had and I almost succumbed to these feelings the first time he came to see me in my quarters. I'm not sure if I understand necessarily everything that happened... It was the oddest feeling, it was like seeing his memories. I even saw Doctor Macleod.

End log for now.

Medical

Lieutenant Commander Imina Sevala, Chief Medical Officer

Star Date 20901.15

Chief Medical Officer's Log Stardate 20901.15

So much has happened during this mission, both personally and to the department, that I don't even know where to begin or how to present it in an orderly fashion. I've already decided to give up attempting such a feat and just tell it as simply as I can.

The ship was sent to secure a research facility that was being operated by a rogue scientist, a Doctor Lowra Derricote. Unknown to us, one of the scientists in the facility had developed a virus capable of turning humanoid life forms into giant bees. The delivery of the virus was through the sting of specially engineered bees. During a visit to the facility, a security midshipman named Fitzalan-Howard was bitten by one of the bees, and he inadvertently brought the virus aboard the Gettysburg.

As people started to report in to Sickbay with symptoms of nausea and fatigue, the medical staff sought answers to the cause. The bees were isolated fairly quickly as a source, and research began to find a cure for the virus. Victims of the virus included Reynolds, the Acting First Officer, who infected a room full of people, including myself and Doctor Derricote.

As all this was occurring, Commodore Grant returned to the ship, or so we were led to believe. He first visited me, and I noticed a few odd things about him, but I dismissed them, knowing that his activities during his absence were stressful. A mention though by Lieutenant Tucker that he'd requested a scan for Satarrans and an observation by Doctor Macleod that he'd forgotten a key program in the ship's computer banks made me rethink my initial observations. Having dealt with Satarrans before while serving in the Imperial Fleet, I thought it best to take action.

My plan was to use his trust of me to get close to him and deliver a dose of tranquilizer large enough to stop a fully mature thural in its tracks. I didn't get the chance however, as someone apparently found his actions suspicious and tried to stop him on their own. This only resulted in alerting him that he'd been discovered, and the option of subduing him without a struggle was gone. All I could do was use my medical authority to transfer him to an isolation chamber. I locked out the ship's controls as best I could, but unfortunately the imposter knew some of Derrick's hidden programs, and he was able to beam out, but not without first causing the ship to break into sections and jettisoning the warp core. He escaped, as security found no trace of him afterwards.

Trapped in the bridge module, we were rescued by one of the shuttles. At the time, we weren't fully aware that the bridge crew had been infected with the virus. Both myself and the security chief, Ristone, had picked it up in Derricote's quarters. Everyone on the shuttle, including Command Yvette, were subsequently infected.

I was able to return to Sickbay, in an isolation chamber, to work on finding a cure. Derricote, Reynolds and Fitzalan-Howard were among those beamed into the chamber with me, to prevent further spread of the disease. Hundreds of crewmembers had been infected by this time though, and it became a race against time, especially after we observed what happened in the final stages of the virus. Reynolds turned into a bee before our eyes, as did Derricote.

The virus worked by resequencing a person's DNA. Doctor Yamazaki worked out a way to revert the DNA back to its original state. She first attempted it on me. Thankfully, it worked, as I was gravely ill by that time. Unfortunately though, the resequencing didn't work on those who were in the final stages. I was able to cure those in the earlier stages by using soundwaves to break apart the virus' casing, which allowed the resequencing to return people to normal. Sadly, more than 400 people were in the final stages, and there was no hope for them. They were no longer human and would soon turn into bees. I informed Commander Yvette and gave her my recommendation to euthanize them. She agreed and carried out those duties herself.

Supplemental

This may perhaps be my last log entry not only on the Gettysburg but in Star Fleet also. I have been sending classified information to Admiral Tomal in the Republic, and my activities were discovered. I gave him nothing that threatened Federation security. I merely kept him informed of events, like Derricote's work, that might affect the safety of the Republic. I also provided him with the virus Derrick had authorized. I discovered that Lieutenant Tucker hadn't destroyed all the information as she had been ordered, and I secured it from her. It was deleted from her personal files.

Derrick has been affected by my actions. He was promoted and given a desk job on Earth so that could be kept under observation. I'm fully willing to accept any punishment given to me, and I've volunteered to give up my commission and citizenship and return to Ecurai. Derrick seems to think that we can both come out of this without any real damage though, and I want to believe him. I don't wish to be forced to leave Star Fleet or the Federation. I want to stay with him, at his side. If all goes well, perhaps he'll return to the ship. If not, I plan to remain with him on Earth.

Lieutenant Laura Macleod, Medical Officer

Star Date 20901.15

Personal Log, Stardate 20901.15 - Lieutenant Laura Macleod recording:

It’s been the longest few days. Losing so many crew to the bee virus has been heart breaking, it feels like we failed and I dread to think what Aloysia must be going through... I will go and see her as soon as I can, but clearing up Sickbay is taking all my time at the moment and with so few remaining staff...

I always thought that being on an away mission gave you more control of the situation, but I've never felt so helpless. In fact, I don't think I've ever been in a more frustrating position. We didn't have time to get all of the information and find the doctor responsible before the Romulans destroyed the Science Station, instead we just lost more people. I'm lucky that Scully was with me or we'd not have gotten any data back at all.

I've reviewed the logs from the ship as well, Doctor Fether was so frustrated, the virus seemed to defy analysis. Thank the gods Ai and Sevala were successful, though it was too late for so many, including poor Fether.

The Counsellor's will be very busy in the next few weeks, dealing with both those that survived being infected by the virus without transforming into a bee, and those who lost friends because of it. Henri wants me to agree to an appointment, I will, but I don't see the point.

On a brighter note, Cousin Charlie tells me he’s found the love of his life… I’d be happier if it wasn’t someone I’d referred for psychological evaluation at least three times… but Counsellor Lowry assures me that my fears are groundless and I’ve promised Charlie I’ll try to get to know his Judith better. I’m concerned about him in any case, I’ve just found out that he’s telepathic… Part of me is really annoyed that I never picked up on it, but mostly I’m worried about the way he’s been using it, or misusing it. I know he doesn’t mean to, and that he’s sought help from our rather eccentric gardener… I hope it all works out.