Philadelphia Mission 06: "Here or There"

Captain's Logs

Capt Aloysia Yvette

Stardate 21106.09

Captain’s Personal Log Stardate 21106.09, Captain Aloysia Yvette recording –

Shoreleave has thus far been uneventful in terms of action, but too eventful in terms of information. I might as well get right to the point: Nick was transferred from captain of the Pegasus to Chief of Staff at Star Fleet Security on Earth. This means that we will no longer be together during missions. As much as it pains me, I am happy for him and I can’t deny him this opportunity. It is a huge career leap, and will keep him and Ellie safe.

We discussed it, and though the separation will be difficult for all of us, we decided that it was best if he takes the job and I stay as captain of the Philadelphia. Our careers are important to both of us, and though our family is, too, we agreed that a year or two apart (excepting shoreleave) was acceptable. Of course it only makes sense for Eleanor to go to Earth with Nick where Charles and Maggie can help out with her, not to mention our other friends in and around San Francisco. I am going to miss the first few years of her life, but they are years she will not remember anyway. Hopefully in a year or two I’ll be ready to settle down on Earth or something else will come up that brings us together again.

There are other changes, too. Xan Macleod, Laura’s brother, is transferring off the Philadelphia to take a Chief of Security position in the Second Fleet. Lieutenant Dunbar, the best Chief Medical Officer I have ever met, is sadly transferring, too. I have to seek out a new CMO, unfortunately. Many of our junior officers are also transferring and are being replaced, along with the crew members we lost at Carraya.

I’m not sure yet what our next mission will bring, but I have a feeling we will be recalled soon. It is going to be difficult to leave Nick and Eleanor behind on Star Base Delta, but we already have plans for them to meet me there next shoreleave. Hopefully Admiral Scott will be understanding about Nick leaving Earth every few months.

End log.

Stardate 21106.23

Captain’s Log Stardate 21106.23. Captain Aloysia Yvette recording –

And so my time away from Nick and Eleanor begins. The Philadelphia has been recalled, and we are being sent to Star Base Charlie along with other Fourth Fleet ships. I am guessing that we’re joining some Third Group ships there before continuing on our mission. There hasn’t been any other information.

End log.

Stardate 21107.15

Captain’s Log Stardate 21107.15. Captain Aloysia Yvette recording:

After a long journey to Starbase Charlie, we were there less than 24 hours simply to attend a briefing that could have been given via a comm link. I think it was a bit ridiculous to waste our time like that when we could have gone straight to Dalmatia and received a briefing on the way. As it is, we’re going to have another long journey to the supersystem.

But I am getting ahead of myself. The Philadelphia along with the Pegasus, Sheridan and Copernicus is being sent to the Dalmatia supersystem, which consists of 101 planets. The system has been explored twice before by Star Fleet vessels, but obviously there is still a lot of work to be done. Specifically, each ship is being sent to an individual planet to fully characterize it.

The Philadelphia is being sent to a planet called Dvorak, which actually has been visited by the Titan before. That was the mission before my time on the Titan. The planet was found to be uninhabited, but there were pressure domes there that hinted at a civilization. It is guessed that the civilization was a colony of the Iconians since an Iconian gateway was discovered by the Titan crew. Before they could find out much else, though, a group of Romulans stormed through the gate and overwhelmed the Titan’s away team, leaving one crew member dead. What’s more, the planet was overwhelmed with an ion storm that prevented the team from leaving. They were eventually rescued, however.

Obviously the Iconian gate must lead to a Romulan world. I’m guessing Starfleet is sending us there not only to fully characterize the planet, as the Titan was unable to do due to the ion storm, but to also find out more about the gateway and where exactly it leads to. If it leads to Romulus itself we could have political issues on our hands.

We have weeks to plan for our adventure, but I’m already thinking about who I will send down with the initial away team. We will discuss it in our upcoming Department Heads meeting, and then the team can prepare to work together during drills in the future.

End log.

Stardate 21107.22

Captain's Log Stardate 21107.22. Recorded during Department Head mission briefing. See attached pictures for reference. Captain Aloysia Yvette speaking:

Good evening, everyone. As you know you are all here to hear a briefing on our upcoming mission. I’m sure you’re curious about it after seeing these images I left out for you, so let’s begin: computer, increase the Dalmatia system to one half original size.

Our destination is the Dalmatia supersystem, located on the far side of the Cardassian Union inside an even larger nebula. It will take us about two months to get there.

The system was first discovered and cataloged by the USS Louis, but it did not do any significant exploration. The Titan, Copernicus, and Yeager were sent to investigate some of the more interesting planets about six years ago, but they ran into a nasty ion storm and were unable to complete their missions due to ship damage. Since then, Star Fleet has had other priorities so only now are we being sent to continue their work.

The Copernicus will once again be going to Dalmatia, as well as the Pegasus and Sheridan. We have already been assigned planets to explore and fully catalog. The planet we have been assigned is known as Dvorak. Computer, Dalmatia to one fifth, Dvorak to one half.

Dvorak is a K-class planet that was adapted for life long ago through the use of pressure domes. The Titan crew began exploration of this planet when they were in the system before, but as I said, the ion storm and another incident I will mention later prevented them from fully characterizing Dvorak. One ironic thing that may be worth noting is that their mission to Dalmatia was the one before I joined the Titan as Assistant Chief Medical Officer.

An away team from the Titan entered one of the domes, and almost immediately discovered the Iconian gateway. Computer, increase Iconian gateway to half. The gateway was active at the time, and after a disagreement with a security program, it was switched on. A group of Romulans came through the gate and attacked the away team, killing one member and interfering with the rest of the mission. The team was eventually retrieved safely, but they were never able to investigate the gateway further to determine where the Romulans came from. They were also unable to explore the rest of the planet.

Obviously with the current Romulan situation there is political importance in finding out more about the gateway. That will be our primary goal. We will also be tasked with determining more about the Iconian civilization that lived on the planet.

End log.

Stardate 21108.07

Captain’s Log Stardate 21108.07. Captain Aloysia Yvette recording:

We are about to arrive at the Dalmatia system. I’m really hoping that this mission to Dvorak ends up being simply one of calm exploration rather than the Security or political nightmare that we are planning for. But it is like I have heard it said on Earth: plan for the worst, hope for the best.

The plan is to first attempt to hail the AI on Dvorak to see if it is still active. Whether or not we get in contact, I plan to send down Commander Hudson with a Security team led by Lieutenant Regan to check out what is happening at the Iconian gateway. What they find there will determine our next steps. It’s a very open ended mission; everything is dependent on what we find on the planet. The amount of unknowns is a little startling, which was evident in our Department Head meeting, but I know we will be able to handle whatever is thrown at us.

In more personal news, I found out that Nick has been sent to Starbase Bravo as part of his new job. He’s able to take Eleanor and his parents with him, thank the gods. I just hope that they will be able to meet up with me during the Philadelphia’s next shoreleave, or the ship may have to launch on her next mission with an Acting Captain.

End log.

Stardate 21108.23

Captain’s Log Stardate 21108.23. Captain Aloysia Yvette recording:

Just as I suspected, we were unable to get in contact with anyone on the surface of Dvorak. In fact, our scans show that there are no active electronic systems on the planet. Some of the Bridge crew members brought up that it could be because Transporting to the surface is what activates the defense systems, but without sending down a probe we won’t know that until we try. I elected to not send a probe because I don’t believe that there is a high risk to the away team.

Commander Hudson and Lieutenant Regan’s team are about to beam to the surface. They would be there already, but at the last moment a Copernicus shuttle showed up with a new Security officer! Apparently Starfleet finally got around to answering my message about replacing Lieutenant Macleod. Midshipman Surana will be joining the away team because I believe that it will give her a good opportunity to learn how Lieutenant Regan works and vice versa. I know that it is a risk, but again, I don’t anticipate many problems with this mission. I’m sure Bear and Jack see it differently, though.

I have yet to review Surana’s file because this was a last minute decision. I hope that she will be a good addition to the crew; she has big shoes to fill.

End log.

Stardate 21109.02

Captain’s Log Stardate 21109.02. Captain Aloysia Yvette recording:

Hudson and Regan have transported to the surface of Dvorak, and nothing has happened. They have encountered some kind of conscious plant life on the surface, and they are getting weak power readings from the Iconian gateway, but there are no signs of the security measures that the Titan encountered. The team is preparing to walk even closer to the gateway in order to see if the security measures turn up.

I plan to send an Engineering team to the surface if nothing happens. They need to analyze the gateway, and find out if it can be activated. Despite the possible security ramifications, we may activate it and see what happens. Iconian gateways are known to open to many locations in both time and space, but I believe that are only capable of opening to locations with other gateways. We may see this one open to the Romulans that the Titan encountered or to another location. In any case, we will have to be extremely cautious.

I may send a science crewman to the surface as well to study the plant life. Though it may be boring to the majority of us, Star Fleet always enjoys when we classify new species of any type. I’m sure Lieutenant Lunanova would appreciate the opportunity.

In another twist, it seems with have some sort of pathogen on board the Philadelphia. That is a source of some fright, though only three patients are currently infected. Sickbay reports that our only doctor is one of those patients. Though Nurse Porfirio has said that the pathogen doesn’t appear to be fatal, there is the possibility of meningitis which can lead to difficulties.

I decided to call the Pegasus to see if they can spare a doctor. I know much of that crew very well, especially in the Medical department, and I want someone here that I already trust. I hope that they can send Doctor Macleod or Doctor Drake, but we will have to see what they say. I will contact Sheridan or Copernicus if I need to.

End log.

Stardate 21110.01

Captain’s Log Stardate 21110.01. Captain Aloysia Yvette recording:

Activities on the Philadelphia are slow-moving, as they always are with an exploration mission. I don’t think that many crew members realize it, but sometimes being the Commanding Officer of a ship is much less fun than being a junior crew member or a Department Head. In the position of C-O, one gets to give all the commands, but then one has to simply sit back and watch as they are carried out. I almost wish I was a Department Head working in Sickbay as Laura is right now, or an F-O out on the away mission like Hudson.

I have yet to hear back from Laura on what the contagion might be, but that doesn’t surprise me. Considering how skilled nurses are, I would assume that they would have identified the infection without Laura’s expertise if it were possible. I just hope that they can find a method of treatment before the patients develop harsher system, or even worse, die.

We have had a few interesting incidence with Dvorak, the first being the possibly telepathic plant life. Midshipman Isabela Surana, a new crew member who just transferred from the Copernicus, was affected by a possibly telepathic contact with the plants, and we had to transport her back to the ship. Because of Sickbay’s preoccupation with the contagion, I am having Lieutenant Lunanova investigate what may be wrong with Surana. Hopefully there is no permanent damage.

We have also discovered that the Iconian gateway is not working. I have sent an Engineering team to the surface led by Lieutenant Codey to attempt to repair the gateway. We need to fulfill our mission in both determining where the gateway will lead, and determining if we can secure it for the Federation.

There is not much else to report right now. Unfortunately, my mind is getting the opportunity to wander and I keep thinking about Nick and Eleanor. They must have reached the Star Base by now. I hope Nick’s investigation goes well, but also that he has time to spend with our daughter. She needs the attention of at least one parent. Hopefully within the next year or two she will get the regular attention of me as well.

End log.

Stardate 21110.30

Captain’s Log Stardate 21110.30. Captain Aloysia Yvette recording:

The away team has successfully opened the gateway and a group of Romulan soldiers have come through. Lieutenant Regan had opened a comm. channel to the Bridge, so we were able to hear the soldiers demand that our away team drop their weapons. Thankfully, Hudson complied and is now trying to negotiate with them. I hope he is successful. We are all holding our breaths.

The plant life does not appear to have harmed Surana, but we are keeping her under observation. We attempted to transport a specimen of the plant, but it died right away and Lieutenant Regan spoke of the plants on the planet reacting badly. He didn’t have time to give me details before the Romulans appeared.

We have lost the transporter lock on the away team for now. Hopefully we get that back soon and Hudson is able to negotiate with the soldiers.

End log.

Stardate 21111.13

Captain’s Log Stardate 21111.13. Captain Aloysia Yvette recording –

Commander Hudson was unsuccessful at negotiating with the Romulans. The Romulans are now all dead, however, thanks to the plant life on the surface of Dvorak that we are now starting to believe has rudimentary sentience, or at least as much intelligence as a mammal. Though the plant life was helpful in taking care of the Romulan problem, it also sent most of my away team through the gateway before the gateway promptly shut down.

Hudson, Regan, Codey, Taeroc, Vimes, and Robuk have all disappeared. We don’t know where they are as we never discovered where the gateway led to. They could be in another quadrant, even. Somehow, Crewman Nobbs did not get sent through the gateway, and since we have regained a transporter lock, we are transporting him and the body of Gatis to the ship. Gatis was killed somehow during this whole ordeal; I’m hoping to get a more definitive report from Nobbs.

I’m not sure what to do next. Do we attempt to open the gateway again and risk another away team to save the first? Do we simply leave the first away team on the other side of the gateway and hope they find their way home? I’m calling an emergency meeting that Lunanova, Nobbs, and Master Chief Kuznetsova will attend to advise me. I’m also hoping that Laura is able to attend. I need their reactions to my ideas to decide if they are worth pursuing.

End log.

Stardate 21112.10

Captain’s Log Stardate 21112.10. Captain Aloysia Yvette recording –

We have decided to send a second away team to the surface of Dvorak. Commander Macleod will lead the away team to the surface so that we have someone who can make split-second decisions. I must stay with the ship as protocol dictates.

Crewman Nobbs will lead a Security contingent. With the limited resources of the Philadelphia, only one other Security crewman will be going with him. Four others from Tactical and Support who are cross-trained in Security will also go to the surface. That will leave one Security crewman and other cross-trained crewmen to defend the ship. We’re running out of people very fast; I’m starting to dislike having a small ship.

Kuznetsova will go to the surface to repair the Iconian gateway, along with one maintenance crewman. Engineering will be covered by Petty Office Stewart, but we still have a lot of Engineers on board so I am not worried. We also have science covered even with Lunanova going to the surface with another crewman. Shenor will stay in charge of Science.

Our priority is to get the away team back by simultaneously repairing the gateway and investigating where and in what time the Romulans were in. Lunanova will examine their equipment. We plan to set up a remote transporter to get the away team back as soon as the gateway opens to hopefully avoid another altercation. We’ll have to see what happens.

We also have the plant-life to worry about, but they are a lower priority. If we leave them alone, hopefully there will be no other psionic threat.

The second away team will have a dicey situation, but hopefully I can get as many crew members back to the Philadelphia as possible.

End log.

Stardate 21201.10

Captain’s Log Stardate 21201.10. Captain Aloysia Yvette recording –

The second away team has successfully arrived on the surface of Dvorak. The discovered that any sign of the Romulans and their vehicle have been eradicated. We suspect that the semi-sentient plants are to blame, but we have no way of confirming this thus far.

The team was initially ordered to reopen the gateway, but then we detected a Romulan light cruiser heading for the Philadelphia. I raised a yellow alert without shields, but so far that seems unnecessary. The cruiser contacted us, and they said they had our first away team. Apparently the gateway leads to Montrose, another planet in the Dalmatia system. We have lost at least one crew member, and Hudson is very severely injured, but I am relieved that the away team is okay. I am about to speak to Codey in Regan while they are in transit.

The second away team has been ordered to leave the gateway alone now that the first team is back, but I am leaving them on the surface for now to investigate the plant life. Hopefully we’ll be able to figure out what is going on with their sentience and perhaps even make first contact!

End log.

Stardate 21201.10

Captain’s Log Stardate 21201.21. Captain Aloysia Yvette recording –

There is a Terran play I have heard about by a man named Winston Shakespeare that is called, “Alls Well That Ends Well”. I believe that is an apt description of the end of our mission. Though several members of the first away team were injured, and one was killed, they returned to us without further incident. The Romulans aboard the light cruiser I mentioned in my last log were very accommodating, and it is clear why now that I have spoken with Lieutenant Regan.

All the Romulans we encountered, including Commander T’Sria, were androids like Starfleet’s own Commander New. I served with Commander New on the Gettysburg, and thus I know that he followed the Laws of Robotics that forbid the androids from causing harm or allow harm to come to living humanoids. I am certain that the Commander will be shocked and relieved to know that there is more of his kind in our galaxy!

As for the second away team, we had to transport them back to the Philadelphia before they had a chance to investigate the semi-sentient plant life. The gateway began to activate on its own, and though it returned to a dormant state shortly before they returned, I do not want to take further chances. We’ve gone an entire mission with only one person lost; that’s a very rare event.

We are now enroute to Starbase Delta. Upon leaving the Dalmatia nebula, we received a data packet from Starfleet detailing an attack on the Alpha Quadrant from the Gamma Quadrant through the Bajoran wormhole. We are once again at war. The invaders have already wrecked more destruction than could be imagined in such a short period of time. Bajor is gone; Sierra-18 is gone; Starbase Charlie is gone. Why does there have to be so much conflict in this universe, and who are these new invaders? I almost hope that they are Dominion because we beat them once and I certainly hope we can beat them again.

I fear for my family. I have received communications from Nick since we returned from the nebula, but they are so delayed that I wouldn’t know if something happened until at least several hours and more like days after. At least he and Eleanor are safe right now. I hope that I get to see them again before the Philadelphia joins this conflict.

End log.

Crew Logs

Cdr William Hudson

Stardate 21106.27

First Officer's Log Commander William Hudson Stardate 21106.27

While not exactly the topic for a First Officer's Log—let's suffice to say that I am extremely glad to be back aboard the Philadelphia. The crew has been recalled and we are now on our way to Starbase Charlie for further briefing and information upon our arrival. Our journey will take approximately 4 weeks, so hopefully I'll have plenty of time to stay away from Captain Yvette and give her some much needed.... breathing room. After the events of the last two days, I can't say that wouldn't be a good thing.

During this time, I'm hoping to focus on cross-training new crewmembers and reorganize the duty and bridge officer positions. Additionally, I'm hoping to get some of the new acquisitions up to snuff, so to speak.

Though I don't really know what our new mission will bring, I can't imagine that our long journey to Charlie will be a fortuitous sign for any kind of mission ahead. Of course, I don't think I've ever been to Charlie—so that might be interesting in itself.

End log.

Stardate 21201.17

Stardate 21201.17 First Officer’s Log Commander William Hudson recording:

As it appears, this log is going to be rather long. I haven’t had the time—what with being knocked out, nearly frozen and incinerated, and operated on since the mission began to make a log. In either case though—this one, maybe two if I can’t fit it in one shift, will hopefully explain some of what happened on the planet.

Our mission was to travel to the Dalmatia super system with a fleet of other ships. We were specifically ordered to travel to Dvorak where we were told to investigate an Iconian gateway. The Iconians are a fascinating race—maybe I’ll have some more time to read about them when this is all over. In any case, a preliminary away team, with a security attachment from Jack and an engineering detachment from Brodie.

Initially, the scans appeared to be progressing well. However, we noticed that a certain native flora appeared to strongly affect those members of our away team who were telepathic. I made the judgment call to send the telepathic members back to the ship. Her behavior—lack of fear, almost in love with the plants. It was completely unlike anything I’d ever seen before. The transformation occurred so quickly.

As that issue appeared to be waning, Brodie began working on a fix for the gateway. Oh I forgot—we were sent down to the surface to assess the potential of the gateway. See if it was operational, and if it was get it back working. We had known that there was a Romulan presence in the surrounding areas—which I’m sure figured into the decision as well.

In anycase, before Brodie managed to get the gateway working, it allowed a group of Romulans through the gate. They were marines and did not warm to any attempts to communicate with them. As a passing hope we fired on the surface plant life- were all thrust into the air, and forced to land through the gateway. We were seriously injured... I had broken multiple bones, and were clearly not on Dvorak any longer. The sky was much different, and... to our horror, we found a group of Romulan marines who were more than pleased to arrest us.

[Commander. You are needed on the bridge.]

I’ll continue this in a bit then.

End log.

Stardate 21201.19

Stardate 21201.19 First Officer’s Log Commander William Hudson Recording:

I’m able to continue now.

Where was I? Ah... Yes. The Romulan marines. They were odd—different than we have seen. And they had absolutely no idea that the war was over. That was the odd thing about all of this. I never got an actual fix on what was going on—but since I’m back and time seems to be in the right place, the Iconian portal must not have phased us out of time at all.

Naturally, I was arrested—Commander Rhiia.

At this point, well—let’s suffice it to say that I was taken away, captured by these Romulan prisoners and that they attempted to extract information from me. The details or way aren’t important for this log. Let’s suffice it to say that I’m lucky to be making this log entry at all.

The interesting thing about all of this is—and quite honestly, most of it is a foggy haze at this point. The Romulan forces had been infiltrated. Sorin—he was a guard in my room.

Silence for a few seconds

I remember watching him stare at the wall—and then when Rhiia came back in. It’s a blur, but he shot them...

And released me.

I was badly injured. He saved my life. Sorin brought me out of building and helped me walk, rather slowly across the field.

I don’t know if any Romulan ears or anyone from the DRR will ever read this, but if they do—just thank Sorin for me. I’m in his debt.

We got to the ship—I remember him carrying me most of the way on the last stretch, and we flew off. Codey and Regan were onboard—no others.

Calls I am sure that the Captain is not looking forward to making. I do not envy her. If I could have sacrificed myself for all of their lives.... but it just doesn’t work that way.

In anycase, after we boarded the shuttle, everything went dark. I remember being admitted into surgery, but nothing is definite at that point. After that—I woke up on a Philadelphia biobed.

Quite honestly, I’m not sure what to make of the whole ordeal. As horrifying as it was—it was even more troubling for me. The exact extent of the hatred by the Romulan soldiers and the daringness and bravery of the DRR—they were two antipodes. From what I gathered after regaining consciousness and full use of my limbs, we didn’t end up making process. But—we can’t count this as a defeat though—can we? After all, we learned about the character of the DRR like Sorin. They were willing to risk their lives for Starfleet officers. Would we have been willing to do the same for them?

I hope so.

End log.

Tactical

Lt JG Simon Thompson

Stardate 21106.18

Personal Log Lieutenant JG Simon Thompson Stardate 21106.18

Have returned to the ship after being aboard Starbase Delta. Am definately glad the shoreleave is over. I have had the most boring time ever. Okay so the band which was playing in the main bar was okayish but it seemed to me as though the place was overrun by people flirting with others both from their ships and from other ships.

I am definately staying a career officer no relationship junk for me thank you.

End Log

Engineeing

CE Lt Brodie Codey

Stardate 21108.08

Chief Engineer's Log, Stardate 21108.08, Lieutenant Brodie Codey reporting.

We have now reached the Dalmatia System at the fringe of the Federation.

Dalmatia; the very word makes you think of the Earth breed of dog with many black spots on its white coat. I've been doing a bit of research into the word - after all every word has a meaning! Dalmatia comes from a region off the Adriatic Sea, Earth; it got its name from an Albanian tribe called the Dalmaltae, and to cut a long story short the etymology arrives at a translation for 'sheep'. It isn't hard to see why this system may have been called this, after all its synthetic - not natural - and the orbiting bodies are shepherded like sheep by whatever mysterious force is controlling them.

The Philadelphia has been tasked to research Dvorak, a planetoid that from previous logs appears to have been some major conurbation for the entire system. An Iconian Gateway was located here by a Federation expeditionary force previously, and it seems that the gateway is possible one of the many primary reasons why we are here now. Dvorak itself is from the name of a Czech composer on Earth, who existed in the 19th century old Earth calendar.

My main concern for this mission is the synthetic system itself - we experienced a 'gravity gauntlet' on the way here; a strange stacking effect that causes increased speed down a particular corridor of space due to the orbiting bodies. These strange gravity effects, I can only theorise, will become more frequent. The Philadelphia is a small, nippy, ship but I do wonder whether this is one run of skerries too much for her.

We will know more about the mission as it unfolds, with decisions being made off of discoveries on Dvorak's surface, and from the missions of the other starships. In the meantime I will be looking closely at the dead surface of this planet that is mysteriously covered in disfiguring scars.

End log.

Stardate 21108.22

The viewscreen flickered on and immediately the chin of the Philadelphia's Chief Engineer filled the field. Soon as he sat back in his chair, his whole face and torso became visible.

"USS Philadelphia, Chief Engineer's Log, Stardate 21108.22, Lieutenant Brodie Codey reporting.

We have successfully navigated part way through the Dalmatia System to hold a steady orbit above Dvorak. Starfleet have confirmed that our primary mission centers around the Iconian Gateway, but the finer details are still eluding most of us. The Captain has authorised an away team, of security personnel, to beam down to the gateway in order to clarify whether any hostile forces remain, or have set-up camp around it. Last time a mission to the gateway revealed a hostile force of Romulans, I hope it isn't that interesting this time.

I have been studying the gateway, and the possible engineering behind such am amazing artifact. My theory is that the gateway harnesses some form of 'space folding', but at present appears inactive. Captain Yvette has instructed me to form an engineering detail should there be issues in activating the gate; I cannot lie, but I am quite excited about the prospect of looking at this technology. It is possible that some concepts will allow me to continue my work with the 'Kangaroo Drive', which has unfortunately - and no pun intended - stalled due to complications.

Master Chief Kuznetsova should be with the security detail now, ready to beam them to the surface. I shall be keeping tabs on the mission from the Bridge, allowing Mister Taeroc to spread his wings slightly down in Engineering.

End log."

Brodie's arm extended and tapped immediately before the screen causing it to go blank.

Stardate 21201.24

Chief Engineers Log - USS Philadelphia Stardate: 21201.24

The Dalmatia Mission, part deux, was supposed to be one of exploration; a super-system containing tens of planets in one mind-boggling orbital show. We were to follow in the footsteps of the USS Titan and visit the planet Dvorak. The planet had been documented to hold several biospheres, only one left intact, and within an Iconian Gateway.

There have been several occasions of Federation ships coming into contact with ancient Iconian technology; this encounter was to be no different. I was sent down with the first away team, along with the FO, CSO, a security detail and Mid Taeroc, my JEngO.

At first, it was evident that the gateway had been damaged - there is no recorded data on damage to Iconian technology, it has either been completely destroyed or found in perfect working order. Captain Yvette had instructed myself and Taeroc to fix the gateway and explore what it had to offer; after some adjustments, and rather bulky additions, we managed to get the thing operational. I am led to believe now that all files concerning the 'patch-up' job we did have been classified to some ultra security level and taken away by the sneaky beaky bunch in Starfleet intel.

The gateway was activated and it was as if those on the other side were waiting, a Romulan APC came storming through the gateway. There was no mistaking it but we were in a suddenly worse situation; whilst the gateway was active the Philly had no communication, or transport capability. The Romulans executed Chief Gatis whilst demanding that we were all compliant with their demands. I am not sure what happened next - we have all been kept separate since returning to the Philly until the debrief with Captain Yvette - but we were all of a sudden thrown through the gateway by these plants that were all over the surface. The pain was incredible, and so was the landing! Taeroc suffered injuries that rendered him unconscious and he is still in intensive care - I am not sure what his chances are, but I expect occupational health will take him back to shore.

Apart from a few bumps and bruises we were then told we had arrived on a planet called Montrose where the Romulans were engaging with the DRR. They separated Commander Hudson from the rest of us, and took us into a barn type structure. What happened then was something from the holodeck novels - the older male medic murdered the female medic and then assisted us in escaping to a shuttlecraft. We were reunited with Commander Hudson, who had been tortured, but unfortunately the gateway had been destroyed by the incumbent DRR attack - we were now in the hands of the DRR.

Montrose it appears was located within the Dvorak system, and we were to be handed back to the Philly - the Romulans in this story were our saviours.

The next twist to the tale involved our DRR rescuers - I was on the Bridge speaking with Captain Yvette when something strange happened... The Romulans started acting in a staccatoed manner! They appeared completely unaware that this had happened, and had not picked up on the Draper test for localised spatial anomalies - a quick succession of unpredictable movements or sound; normally those experiencing an anomaly would have picked up on my test, but these did not - it was like their sensory reception of the world around them had suspended itself for a few seconds. The natural conclusion for this would be android in nature, but that would be phenomenal...

We were later returned to the Philly with no apparent explanation, and are now en route to Starbase Delta. It appears all has not been quiet whilst we've been away...

I will now go down to check up on Taeroc, I do hope he's alright - it was his first away mission.

End log.

Mid Taeroc

Stardate 21107.02

Personal log Midshipman Taeroc Stardate 21107.02

Imagine my surprise when I realized this morning that I've not logged a single personal byte since my arrival on the Philadelphia. Not exactly the kind of habit you want to be starting early on in your active career, so I guess I'll have to start making this more of a routine from now on. At least that way I'll not have to be picky about what to enter and what to leave out of my log. Honestly, despite only being a bare few weeks into my first bout of active duty, I already have enough to say to fill a small set of encyclopedias.

For this session, I'll focus on what I've been doing so far, the few members of the crew I've gotten to know, and what the Philly’s like to what everyone else around here calls a 'Jay-O'. That's a Junior Officer to any version of future me who might be listening to this and not having the foggiest idea of what I'm on about.

My first duty shift set aside, things haven't exactly been the stuff of novels around here. I'm still learning rather than doing on most of my shifts, though I'm glad to say I've already got a decent idea of what I'm doing most of the time. If I'm lucky and I keep scoring shifts with some of the older enlisted engineers, I might actually be competent by the time we reach Charlie. Maybe that's exactly what Lieutenant Codey had in mind when he worked out duty shifts. Or maybe everyone on this ship knows more about what's going on than I do. Either way, I think I'm better off for it.

Speaking honestly, Codey is just about the only senior crewmen I've seen much of since we set off. Well, him and Chief Ivanova, though by the way she avoids talking to me unless I break something or screw up in another way one would swear I'm the bane of her existence. The other enlisted men keep telling me I need to give her time to warm up to me, but I won't be holding my breath. All in all, we don't need to be on friendly terms as long as we can work together.

I don't regularly see a lot of the crew from the other departments, with the exception of mealtimes in the mess hall and the little time I spend in my quarters. I've been bunked with two guys from science and one from tactical, all who seem to be of the decent sort, though I don't see them much either. Mostly I just glimpse one of them already in bed by the time I get back from my shift, only to be replaced by another by the time I wake up again. I suppose it helps prevent people from feeling cramped together.

And cramped we are. The Philly is a Berliner, and boy does it seem like we're a lot of crew for such a small ship. I really don't mind the size of the ship, only the proximity of the people. Maybe I'm just being classically people-averse, or I just need a few more months to get used to it. I suppose I'd be best off hoping for the latter, though, as I doubt I'll be able to get off her again for a while. From what I hear, seeing as that junior engineer's aren't really briefed on anything important, we'll not be spending much time around Starbase Charlie.

I am curious to know what we'll be doing, though.

End log

MCPO Ivanova Kuznetsova

Stardate 21111.14

Personal Log Master Chief Petty Officer Ivanova Kuznetsova Stardate 21111.14 USS Philadelphia

Events of the last few hours have dramatically altered the morale, and perception of the current mission amongst the crew. My counterpart, Master Chief Vimes from security, Commander Hudson, and both Engineering officers have somehow vanished on the surface of this alien world. Another of my colleagues, CPO Gatis has been murdered; it is strange that when I looked at the wound on Gatis' body it had all the tell-tale signs of being a disruptor charge meaning that they were not alone. Rumour and speculation travel fast on a ship this small and I just surely hope we can get some answers for the crew.

I have already begun to look at Engineering and see how we can close the gap that Codey and that new officer have left - despite being totally useless, they had hands, and hands are what an Engineering Department needs. Already we have been stretched by tutoring the new officer, and trying to limit Codey from causing too much damage - who knows, maybe we will be fine!

The Captain has requested a meeting between myself, Lt Lunanova, Dr Macleod, and Crewman Nobbs - who survived the ordeal - I am guessing that she will want suggestions, and options presented to her; I would like to transport to the surface to have a look at the gateway to see what happened - if necessary I will recommend that be transport all the debris and the gateway to the Philly for further analysis.

For now, we are but a small crew trying to operate in the shadow of the demise of Gatis, and possibly the rest of the away team, I just hope Nobbs has something useful he can share with us.

End log.

Security

COS Lt Jack Regan

Stardate 21201.22

Personal Log, Stardate 21201.22. Chief of Security, Lieutenant Jack Regan recording:

We beamed down to the planet Dvorak to find a broken Iconian gateway and a load of sentient, psychic plants which, first-up, seemed to intoxicate an empathic Security midshipman who went ga ga over them, and then later attacked us with a psionic blast as we tried to take a sample.

Under orders, the Chief Engineer had got the gateway working again despite the fact the clearly, in my opinion, something nasty was likely to come through it. Well, the inevitable happened, and an armoured APC carrying Romulan shock troops came steaming forth. This bunch seemed to think we're at war with them. They killed one of my Security men, the Bolian Chief Petty Office Capo Gatis, in cold blood and ordered us to surrender. Well, I wasn't prepared to die on my knees at the hands of those bastards! I got down on the floor and ripped up some of the psychic plants as a distraction, hinting to my Security team to do likewise. This time the plants reacted with even more intensity, the powerful psionic blast threw everyone and everything into air and through the gateway – all except Crewman Nobbs that is,and the Romulans - who I later learned had been crushed under their own APC.

For a while we didn't know if we'd been thrown out of our own time or halfway across the galaxy, and the gateway had closed behind us. Iconian technology is almost a complete mystery so anything was possible. What we were thrown into, though, was a pitched battle in a continuing civil war between the Democratic Romulan Republic and Imperials – those stupid bastards were still fighting! Some of our team were injured and certainly in no state to resist capture, so we were taken prisoner at the Imperial camp. Commander Hudson was separated from us and they gave him a real working over.

It turned out, luckily for us, the camp had been infiltrated by DRR. They got us out of there as their attacking forces levelled the place. We were on a planet called Montrose – the same system as Dvorak. Evacuated to the DRR Intel ship, Ice Gul, it was clear there was something very bloody peculiar about the crew... They all looked the same and I haven't seem many Romulans with the strength they demonstrated on Montrose. I confronted their Sub-commander Sorin about this, and he revealed the reason. The Romulans are androids of the same kind as Commander New, former First Officer of the USS Darwin, and the result of an experimental programme. Many of them had now chosen the DRR side in the Romulan civil conflict it seemed.

Commander Hudson had been badly hurt back on Montrose but they treated him in their high tech Medical bay before we rendezvoused with the Philadelphia.

I certainly never thought I'd be grateful for the actions of Romulans, but the DRR, androids or not, were our saviours. At the end of this, I'm not sure how much we learned of Iconian technology. Hopefully Codey will have gained something from it. I bloody hope so, given it cost one of my best NCOs.

I hear Crewman Nobbs acquitted himself well when left behind... given the circumstances... I think anyway. At least he managed not to shoot anything without orders and he continued his record of miraculous escapes from certain death – that Romulan APC hurtled through the gateway and came to a halt a mere inch in front of him! Talk about a cat, he must have 900 bleedin' lives.

End log

Science

Mid Savar Feyil

Stardate 21105.10

Personal Log Midshipman Savar Feyil Stardate 21105.10

I am still unsure as to what our mission to Carraya was about. We were approaching a mining station when the ship was hit. I have also found out that while we were busy in Science the ship had been boarded. We have returned to Starbase Delta and repairs are underway to the ship.

The initial damage to the Science Lab was caused by the hull breach. The rest of the Lab suffered various minor problems that are easily fixed.

As for myself I am not sure what I will do with my Starfleet career. I orginally chose Science as it seemed interesting, but I have to question if that choice was correct. Just like the Philadelphia I think I am in need of repair.

My decision to enter Starfleet was correct at the time but I have had time to reflect on this and question that decision.

I am required to attend the formal ceremony on Delta. I look forward to the time away from the Philly.

End Log

Stardate 21110.26

Personal Log Midshipman Savar Feyil Stardate 21110.26

It would appear I have contracted some sort of infection. Vegan Choriomeningitis or something like that is what I have heard. I have been given a drip to try and counter the effects of whatever it is I have. The drip does seem to be working as my symptoms seem to be less severe than before.

The downside to my condition is that I have been stuck in Sickbay and been unable to go down to the planet's surface or even do any work. I had managed to get a PADD with some sensor analysis that I was working on before I got sick. Unfortunately I got caught by one of the nurses who confiscated it off of me. What this means is that I am now stuck bored in bed in Sickbay. I do not know how much more of this I can take. I think I am going stir crazy just waiting here with nothing to do.

End Log

Stardate 21201.30

Personal Log Midshipman Savar Feyil Stardate 21201.30

The infection I had, Vegan Choriomeningitis or something like that, had the interesting effect of making me deaf. Thankfully this was only temporary and I have almost got full hearing back. I do still experience some problems but these are minor compared to the full deafness that I was suffering. I am on restricted duties at the moment and awaiting a full bill of health to return to full work. I do find myself more and more considering my future in Starfleet. My forced isolation in sickbay gave me time to try and assess what I want. I find that science does not have the same appeal as it once did. I would like to speak to the Captain about this, but am still only a Midshipman and not even sure if I can speak to her about this. I wish Shirley-Anne were here. She was always good for listening to my problems, she always seemed to have a way of seeing to the heart of it and giving good advice. I am considering that I did some Engineering at the Academy and could possible transfer to that department. The idea of fixing things has a certain appeal. I will just need to consider what my options are. I have to now attend a ceremony on the new ship that has docked. The USS Chin'toka is the newest addition to the fourth fleet. I have heard that she hasn't even got a crew yet. End Log

Medical

CMO LCdr Laura Macleod

Stardate 21111.09

Chief Medical Officer's Log Lieutenant Commander Laura Macleod Stardate 21111.09

I was called to the Philadelphia to treat a mysterious outbreak because of the shortage of medical staff, I haven't had a chance to check what happened to their CMO yet, I hope Fraser's ok.

I left Drake in charge of the Pegasus' sickbay and brought Chen and Orlova with me, which should give adequate cover for both ships for now.

After a short investigation, I have determined that the problem was caused by the Vegan Choriomeningitis bacteria that had itself been infected by the Levodian Flu virus.

Only crew members who have not been vaccinated against Vegan Choriomeningitis appear to be affected and tests indicate that a course of antibiotics should eradicate the bacteria within the next few hours.

Hopefully everything will go smoothly...

End Log

Stardate 21201.20

Stardate 21201.20 Chief Medical Officer’s Log Lieutenant Commander Laura Macleod Recording:

This tour of duty has been rather an odd one for me. I did my usual preparations and set out on the Pegasus but just as we arrived at our destination a medical emergency on the Philadelphia prompted Captain Yvette to ask for my assistance.

Leaving Doctor Drake in charge and Nurse Cirrus going along on the away team, Doctor Chen, Nurse Orlova and I took a shuttle over to our companion ship to see what we could do to help.

We quarantined sickbay and investigated what seemed to be a very unusual infection. It happened that some of the crew had skipped their Vegan Choriomeningitis jabs and a strain of it had mutated with the aid of the Levodian Flu.

Fortunately we were able to synthesise a cure quickly, and within a few hours all of our patients were on the road to recovery, though Mr Feyil did experience some temporary hearing loss as a result of the infection.

I was glad I'd taken Chen with me when Alo... Captain Yvette found another little job for me to do. It seemed that the away team that had been sent down to the planet they were investigating—including three of their senior officers—had come under attack by a group of Romulans, and some possibly sentient, telepathic plant life.

They had disappeared through a gateway leaving only Crewman Nobbs to tell their tale, and as the next ranking officer, I was to lead the rescue attempt.

This was unknown territory for me and I admit that I faced it with a certain amount of trepidation, and the fervent wish that Xan or Charlie had been beside me. It wasn't the danger or the risk of being caught up in a fight that disturbed me, I'm no stranger to either and I'm certainly not given to panicking.

What concerned me was whether I would know, see or recognise enough to make the right decisions if the worst happened and we ended up fighting for our lives. I'm a doctor, I know the human body inside out and dozens of other races to boot, but I'm not a tactician.

It's made me think, and whilst I have no intention of ever transferring to the command stream, I think I might see what training programs are available, just in case this sort of situation ever happens again.

As it was, our efforts were not needed as our first away team, or what was left of it, was returned to us by a friendly Romulan ship. Apparently they had been transferred to a nearby planet via the gateway and captured by a group of Romulans who thought we were still at war. Commander Hudson was badly hurt during his 'interrogation' and has been recovering in Sickbay.

The Philadelphia hasn't got its own Counsellor but I knew Anna Lowry was still on Delta and I recommended that he, and the other survivors of the first away team, made an appointment when we reached Delta.

Speaking of getting back, when I tried to contact the Pegasus about returning it was gone, and we ended up remaining on the Philly until we got back to Delta. I'm not sure what happened yet, I'm hoping to be able to catch up with a few people in the next couple of days.

That wasn't the last surprise we had either, and the others we're nearly as pleasant.

I can't even begin to describe the horror I feel at thought of so much destruction. Bajor gone? Starbase Charlie, Sierra? I still can't quite get myself to believe it and I can't help wondering how Az is taking it. I've had to keep a close reign on my empathy as well, though I keep it more under control than Xan ever has anyway. Right now, even the general mood of a room has the potential to pull me down with it.

More news was waiting for me on Delta, Star Fleet has seen fit to re-assign me, I don't know the details yet, just that I was to collect my things from the Pegasus and wait on Delta. It's all very unsettling, I've been with most of my medical team a long time, I'm not sure exactly how I feel about starting over... I guess I'll find out soon enough.

I have had one piece of good news though, Xan has been promoted to Lieutenant Commander and the First Officer of the Columbia. Quite how he managed that when he left here to take up a department head position on a completely different ship, I don't know. I'm hoping Emilia has more details.

Shadow is sulking with me, it's good to have her back though, and at least I have a few weeks of shoreleave to sort everything out.

End Log

Ens Stacie Allen

Stardate 21107.12

Junior Medical Officers Log: Ensign Stacie Allen, Ship's Surgeon

The old cliché says to never judge a book by it's cover but when you're called into surgery your first day aboard it's hard not have an impression of your new posting imprinted on your psyche. The imprint reads 'exciting if not unpredictable,' but I'll see if that holds true in the coming mission or not.

Luckily I was in the right place at the right time. The ship's First Officer suffered from a sudden and acute bout of appendicitis. It was a rather simple operation in comparison to some. He is now back on duty.

It should be noted that Nurse Natok was essential in all areas of the procedure and no small credit goes to him for the Commander's speedy recovery. Mr. Natok was also courteous enough to show a new superior the different areas of Sickbay just before the Commander arrived in Sickbay.

So far it's been a pleasure to work with him and the other members of the Philly staff I've had the privilege to meet.

End Log.