Sheridan Mission 06: "Trouble at the Border"

Stardate 20805.12

Captain Quillian Dramar Recording

The Sheridan spent most of the past 4 months in spacedock getting some much needed upgrades and nearly a complete replacement of every piece of furniture and carpet on the ship from the complete water damage that occurred during the Olean mission. As ordered by Admiral Daher, I spent the duration of this time at Star Fleet Academy where I retook the basic command courses, and underwent extensive psychological examination to determine if I was still competent to command a Star Fleet vessel. The passed the academy courses with a perfect score, and the Doctors declared I am fit, both physically and mentally, for command. All that remains to be seen is whether the Judge Advocate General will issue charges against me, as he has yet to do so. That will have to be answered another day.

Upon completion of the courses, and repairs, the Sheridan received new orders; patrol duty along the Federation-Romulan neutral zone between Waystations Sierra and Kilo. While it would have been nice to four-month easy assignment, it seems that fate, or whatever you want to call it, had other plans.

While on patrol between Waystation Tango and Sierra, the Sheridan suffered a major power failure while traveling at Warp 3 due to a botched test in Engineering. Sickbay became very busy as a result, but fortunately, there were no major injuries. What it did do, was slow us down for several hours. I cannot say for certain that we could have prevented what would come, had the accident not happened.

Upon arriving at Waystation Sierra, things were not well. Sensor sweeps of the waystation indicated that there were no life forms aboard. We detected no warp trail but sensors indicated the presence of trace amounts of anti-protons, which we linked to disruptor activity. The Away Team found the station’s command center destroyed, including all listening equipment. The crew of two were found murdered; their bodies indicated that it was Bajoran was used against them.

I had a feeling that Sierra would not be alone in her fate, and ordered the Sheridan to Waystation Romeo. Unfortunately, I was right. The crew was found in much the state as the that of Sierra; dead. Scans again indicated bajoran weaponry. Based off of the data we collected, Sierra was struck 20 hours prior to our arrival, and Romeo 16. If the pattern continued, then Quebec, Papa, and Oscar had already been hit, and November was currently under attack.

I had just ordered the Away Team to return to the ship and helm to set our course for Waystation Novemeber by way Quebec, when two FLASH messages marked “Eyes Only” were received. The first indicated the Federation was now at DEFCON 3. The second contained new orders to rendezvous in sector 228 at Starbase 157.

With our new orders in hand, I ordereded science to and deploy two class 8 probes, one up the chain of waystations and the other down the chain. The probes would have to continue our patrol while we headed for SB 157. They revealed waystations Tango through Zulu were operational.

The probe sent up the line revealed that Waystations Quebec and Papa were as were as equally lifeless and non-functioning as Sierra and Romeo. At Oscar, the probe picked up new readings. The waystation was still functional, and the lifesigns of the stations two crew members were detected. In addition, a shuttle was detected in the Oscar’s shuttle bay, along with three indiscriminate life signs. The scans placed two of the intruders just outside the shuttle, with the third intruder still inside the shuttle.

As the probe passed the station, phaser fire was detected, as well as a sharp increase in sensor activity from the shuttle. A moment later, the crew of Waystation Oscar began transmitting a distress call. Sixty seconds later the probe detected an apparently intentional warp core breach onboard the shuttle. Moments later the shuttle, along with Waystation Oscar, exploded.

The probes readings showed that the shuttle was of a common civilian model used throughout the Federation, though it appeared to have been modified by the addition of an Orion cloaking device, though this could not be verified.

Waystation November was still operational, as were all waystations up to Waystation Kilo, at which point the probe traveled beyond communications range.

This is deeply troubling. The waystations are our eyes and ears into the neutral zone. Now a large hole in our detection net was open, from Sierra to Oscar. I can only pray this was not the first strike of another way with the Romulans. Only time will tell.

Captain's Logs

Capt Quillian Dramar

Stardat 020802.12

Stardate 020802.12

The Sheridan has been assigned patrol duty along the Federation-Romulan Neutral Zone. While this could be a rather dull assignment, I think that this relaxed duty might be good for the crew. Trust in the command staff needs to rebuilt, which is one of those things that only time can heal.

Upon arriving at Waystation Tango, our patrol pattern was confirmed. We are to proceed to Waystation Sierra and patrol between it and Kilo. We are currently on our way to Sierra to begin our assignment.

On a more pleasant note, promotions and medals have been handed out to Lieutenant J.G. Ristone, and Ensign Hendrix. Mr. La’Boe was awarded the Civilian Commendation Medal for his actions at the Olean Colony. Mr. Ristone has been assigned the role of COS. I have no doubt that he will do a fine job. I still have several crew members to track down for their promotions, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem with this assignment.

End Long

Stardate 020803.16

Stardate 020803.16

The Sheridan has successfully recovered from a power failure which left the ship crippled and several crew members in sickbay. During a test in Engineering, there was an overload at a critical power junction. This fried bio-neural jell packs across the ship, and fussed entire banks of isolinear chips and initiating a cascade of failures across the ship, first effecting inertial dampeners and then the warp drive. We had been traveling at warp 3 at the time. Crew members across the ship were thrown forward, some colliding with bulkheads. Sickbay became very busy, including Lieutenant Dodge was received a nasty blow to head from the Tactical Console. He remains in sickbay for observation.

The bridge life-support systems failed, forcing me to reroute control of the ship to the situation table in main engineering. From there, repair efforts were coordinated. It took a little over three hours to repair the damaged to the ship. How the engineering crew got all of the repairs, including replacing the isolinear chips, finished so quickly is beyond me. It is a testament to the job that Lieutenant th’Terik is doing as Chief Engineer.

We are currently back in warp three on our waystation sierra where we will begin our patrol pattern.

End Log

Stardate 20804.22

Stardate 20804.22

Upon arriving at Waystation Sierra, our sensor sweeps of the waystation indicated that there were no life forms aboard. We detected no warp trail but sensors indicated the presence of trace amounts of anti-protons, which are linked to disruptor activity. Since life support was active and functioning properly, I sent Commander Ralston over with an away team to ascertain the situation on the station.

The atmospheric systems of the station were overwhelmed by the large numbers aboard and begun shutting down. We beamed power and generators over to the station to allow the away team finish its investigation. Upon returning from the station, Commander Ralston issues his findings. The stations command center was completely destroyed. The crew of two is dead; their bodies indicated that it was Bajoran weaponry used against the station. I find this highly unlikely, but at the moment we have nothing to suggest otherwise.

I had a feeling that Sierra would not be alone, and ordered the Sheridan to Waystation Romeo. There we found Romeo in the same state as Sierra. I sent over an away team. If they find a similar situation, we will head further down the line.

End Log

Crew Logs

Ens Reginald Hendrix

Stardate 20802.16

Ensign Reginald Hendrix, Stardate 20802.16

Begin Log:

Well, fer my first assignment I can safely say I ain't bored. I hadn't e'en been on a week when now Lieutenant Ristone tasked me t' investigate an orb in th' possession of LCdr Princip. His friend Mr. La'Boe, our resident hitchhiker's been worried 'bout his mental state, and f' good reason.

Dat thing's messin' wit his head. I din' really notice back on shore leave, but now dat we're underway wit' our mission I can see.

I'ma close dis investigation personally. I don' wanna mess up th' trust Lt. Ristone has fer me.

Matter of fact. I better check up on Doc Princip during my shift. Hopefully he's calmed down some.

End Log.

Stardate 20507.08

Ensign Reginald Hendrix, Stardate 20507.08

Begin Log:

Well, it's certainly been some time since I last did this. Hell if I remember c'rectly, it was right b'fore th' ship broke....Fer lack of better term.

Anyways, it's been pretty busy here. We made it to Sierra, but then someone had t' go and waylay th' station an' kill th' crew. 'Dere wasn't anything really salvageable there. Wasn't e'en enough air f' th' away team. I hate feelin' lightheaded.

We've made it t' Romeo, but Ion't know all th' details yet. Hopefully it wasn't in th' same state, but m' "Reggie Sense" is tellin' me not t' hold m' breath.

Ontop of 'dat, La'Boe came an' told me and Lt. Ristone 'dat there's a stowaway on board. Not a big deal, she was actually workin' in sickbay. I got tasked out t' deal wit' dat. I asked her what was up about 'dat an' she started cryin. I can't stand women cryin', it makes me feel like an ••• e'en if it ain't my fault.

Well, Ristone and Princip talked about her stayin' either in sickbay or th' brig. I ain't think 'dat was real cool but I understand why. I came up wit' th' bright idea of havin' a security escort for her. It worked for a whole hour I think.

I say 'dat 'cuz right when she was gettin' somethin' t' eat I got a call from Doc Ejanix sayin' he needed help in th' holodeck. Last time I checked, y' shouldn't need help wit' a spongebath. Crewman Waits was first on scene....and th' only t' die.

I found out 'dat someone had taken th' safeties off and ran one of our security trainin' simulations. Ensign Phillips had apparently went in b'fore Doc Ejanix 'cuz she got covered up in debris. Doc got taken hostage an' almost died himself. I'm glad Master Cheif Dibnah did whatever th' hell he did t' bring the safeties on so I could beam Doc out. Good timin' too. Ion't think I'd be here right now widdout 'im.

Th' aftermath wasn't dat great either. I went down t' sickbay t' see Doc, Phillips an' Waits. Ended up gettin int' a fight wit' Carnes. I gotta learn not t' headbutt so damn hard. Anyways, on a lighter note, 'dat brunette I met when I first started investigatin' Princip's orb was there. She's nice, but too damn shy. Let's see if I can't do somethin' bout dat.

End Log

Oh wait wait wait!!! I almost forgot, Master Cheif gave me some names f' who mighta' turned the safeties off. I guess I'll get back at him after th' party.

Ok now end log

Lt JG Nicholas Ristone

Stardate 20803.16

Lieutenant [JG] Nicholas Ristone, Stardate 20803.16

Chief of Security Log

I have just finished reading over the reports that have so far been sent my way. About four hours ago the Sheridan experienced a malfunction, for full details see Engineering logs, which sent the ship through several hours of chaos and disaster.

So far only one casualty has been reported, though the life of Nellis, one of my security men, is still in danger.

I am pleased to report that the security teams acted efficiently and promptly during the crisis. It appears the drills we have been running for the past week on Romulan Boarding Parties has paid off some.

We are now continuing our patrol mission and I am looking forward to things returning some to normal.

End Log.

Stardate 20804.09

Lieutenant [JG] Ristone, Stardate 20804.09

Chief of Security Log

I have just returned from what could be described as one of the most frustrating away missions I have ever been on. When we beamed aboard Waystation Sierra along the Romulan/Federation Neutral Zone I expected to be able to answer some of our questions. Instead out question list has only grown.

My team beamed aboard deck two, the mess hall, where we discovered the body of a Lieutenant. Later a second body, that of an Ensign was discovered. Both were clearly murdered though we have no real proof of who was behind the horrible attacks.

Also, either due to some horrible engineering up keeping from the Waystation crew or the horrible destruction from the attackers it was impossible to gain any useful information or even keep environmental controls online.

I have since returned to the ship and have discovered we have two new Midshipmen aboard. One of them a Cardassian/Bajorian hybrid the other full blooded Cardassian.

I recognize the last name Tain but am not worried or concerned about it and do not see it as a big deal. I am however worried that the two get along. In my past I have found that some people find hybrids of their race to be less than perfect, this is even more true with Cardassians. Perhaps the good doctor Enjanix can help ensure the waters stay calm on that front.

End Log

Lt Gor'Ame th'Terik

Stardate 020803.17

Lieutenant Gor'Ame th'Terik, Stardate 020803.17

“Personal log:

“Where do I begin?”

** Pause **

“This is my first personal log in… I don’t know, a long time!”

Ame stood and began pacing round his quarters.

“Being made Chief Engineer of the Sheridan by the Captain sounded good, and it’s definitely a significant boost in my career, but it does isolate me from people now I think.

I can’t just be mates with anyone now, we have to keep a certain level of ‘them and us’ between the senior staff and the rest of the crew.”

Pulling out a bottle of golden liquid from a cabinet, Ame took a long swig.

“We loose so much sometimes. Friendships are usually the beginning… Ah… bugger this! Computer, end recording

LCdr Gaelio Princip

Stardate 020803.17

Lieutenant Commander Gaelio Princip, Stardate 020803.17

Chief Medical Officer's log Gaelio Princip reporting.

Alot has happened, as you may or may not know, i purchased a very pretty orb from a market on starbase bravo before the Olean mission. This orb was since sitting on a stand on my desk. What I did not know what this orb was affecting my mind.

I found that the orb begun to make me paranoid and see things that were not there, it also made me emotionally act ways I previously would not, to the point where I was not fit for duty.

The combine efforts of Mr La'Boe, Lt Ristone and Ensign Hendrix managed to find the source of the problem and sent the orb to sickbay for analysis. However during the strange power surge the orb shattered leaving only a crystal that has since been destroyed.

The orb did do me some good though. I have found out, by subspace message to the one who sold me it, that it was created to aid meditation and affected me due to my long term contact with it.

Things were starting to get ontop of me, and during a halucination on the holodeck I recalled being happiest at a temple on earth. I have remade this temple and will meditate there and explorer myself spiritually alot more as I have felt the need to, but so far felt too restrained to do.

Other intresting things, sickbay is short staffed, and alot of injured with the power surge, Artz is an irritating *******, Ejanix is too old, and the only other reliable or senisble doctor there is, is Everett who keeps vanishing.

I guess if I keep explorering my spiritual side I can sort my mind out and pass it on to others... I just hope the crew will be understanding of my more relgious side.

Is relgious the right word? probably not...

End recording.

Mid Nar Ren Tain

Stardate 020804.04

Midshipman Nar Ren Tain, Stardate 020804.04

Log Entered Via Computer Terminal at the Helm Position.

The U.S.S. Sheridan is more than I expected, it’s a fine ship and from what I can see the rumors and stories were right, the crew has an excellent reputation, as go getters who always take the extra step to get the job done. There is a fine espree décor on the Sheridan the show in little was, the crew if friendly and polite. Officers seem to be ready for anything, the entire crew working towards completing a job with the highest levels of competence of any crew in the fleet. I am sure that is a direct result of Captain Dramar and his high standards and a reputation for excellence. Captain Sharry was correct. Captain Dramar is a fine officer and I am sure I will learn a great deal from him.

I met my fellow Tactical Officer today, a Midshipman named Jared Inyo. He seems friendly and out going enough. He seems to be very intelligent and well informed. He seemed to know about my father’s surname of Tain but he did not say anything out load. I am guessing that he did not say anything out of respect not wanting to embarrass me in front of the others. I would expect that of all the crewmembers Jared would know of Enabran Tain, seeing how the Cardassian had invaded his people home world.

I do hope that Captain Dramar approves Captain Sharry’s request for a tour of the Sheridan. I have a feeling that Captain Dramar and Captain Sharry would enjoy each other’s company. I am looking forward to serving on the Sheridan, I have a distinct feeling that we will have may a note worthy adventures.

-End Log.