Chapter IIa: Absolute Disaster

She smiles and gives him a casual salute as the door shuts, then gets back to work.

Kendall walks towards the bridge, ready to walk into the ready room to talk with Cass.

"That's correct. We saw that the life forms were on their way to the bridge. I couldn't risk them going to warp and warning their fellow parasites about us. I know from brutal experience that they don't negotiate in good faith. I did the only reasonable thing before their shields went up and transported them aboard the Potential." She pauses. "Obviously, they no longer pose a threat.

"As for the rogue ship, I've learned that the civilian who initially responded to our fake distress signal took it upon herself to send her ship on a suicide mission. She did so without authorization and I intend to discipline her." Cass glances up at Kendall, who is standing out a camera range for the video feed, and gives her a slight nod of acknowledgment.

"Now, Captain, let's talk rescue."

"You'll have your report," Cass says without inflection. She'll have Darcy write it up. That should be sufficiently just and scathing. "And no, not yet. I need to confer with my senior staff.

"Oh, and I haven't forgotten your request for my chief engineer. I may not be able to provide her, as she's currently confined to quarters for..." Cass hesitates, not sure how to describe Bruce's transgression, finally settling on, "gross insubordination. But I'll send someone to help you.

"I'll have a rescue proposal within the hour."

Kendall waits for Cass to finish her part, and then she walks into the ready room. She will sit on the chair at the head of the table, get an apple from the replicator, and lean back in her chair with her feet crossed on the table.

She will access the computer and ask to play any feeds related to the slug hosts. She wants to understand their quirks, their movements, their speech patterns. She will do this until Cass walks in to talk.Kendall is used to performing passive subterfuge (posing as personnel in the periphery, but she has never been the main act before. This studying is unfamiliar to her.

"You have the conn," Cass tells Mezron. "Lt. Comm. Darcy will be on the bridge shortly. I'll be in the ready room." It occurs to her that she has never once referred to it as her ready room, even though she knows that it, like the command chair, belongs to the office of captain and not the person. It is as clear an indication as one could find that she has always known that being captain is not what she's meant for. She hasn't been able to bring herself to fully accept the mantle, no matter how much she may have wanted to. Perhaps that's why she'd let her senior officers get away with so much non-regulation behavior - to sabotage her own undeserved command.

She walks into the ready room to see Kendall making herself so casually at home. Cass takes the seat at the desk and says, without preamble, "You said you have an idea. Let's hear it."

A metallic wheeze, the sound of a small pump straining. Blinding white, Marbo opens his eyes and finds himself connected to more wires than even moira would know what to do with. Defibrillators, heartrate monitors, and various other vital systems beep and whizz and buzz as he lay on the medbay stretcher.

He attempts to call out to someone but finds no voice in his throat. His head is still swimming. He reaches for a datapad that is sitting on a nearby surgical tray, and turns on the front facing camera, examining the damage. A look of regret crosses his face, "Another failed expiriment" he thinks to himself.

He begins typing, a design coming to mind similar to cassanos helmet, but only covering his affected throat.

Piece by piece he builds it in the drafting program recognized by the replicators, and sends it to the nearest one.

He closes his eyes and lays there. hoping that Belka and the other doctors are too busy to concern themselves with him. Once the datapad notifies him that the replicator has printed his device off, he stands up carefully, and moves with great deliberation as to not disconnect any of the lifesaving equipment he has mounted to his body at this point. When he reaches the replicator, he sees his contraption. A bulky collar/chestplate containing a sterilized sealed area for his neck, as well as an electronc vocal modulator, and an oxygen pump connected to a canister of ethanol, which he can administer at any time to reduce stress and prevent unnecessary stress related damage to his wounds.

He fits it over the Spacefleet standard issue "Walking Wounded" Robe that he is wearing. A very simple zip-up full body robe, that serves as an easy, warm cover for wounded who are able to move about the ship. The benefits to the robe, on top of being warm and comfortable, is that it conceals a majority of the wires and tubes that his new collar uses to connect to his body, as well as denoting that he is currently not "Acting Staff."

Once he is suited, a page comes through the PA system, taking almost everyone by surprise due to its slightly pitchy, robotic tone.

"Commander. Zlam. Good catch.

Marbo has some thoughts on these slugs he would like to share when you are available."

If it werent for the strange mechanicality to his voice, it would almost come off as aggressive, something nobody has heard come from Marbo before.

Moira hears Marbo through the PA, relieved and startled. She's finished her preparations, and she's getting antsy. Reprimand is one thing, but they're in a crisis right now. She leans up against the door and calls to the guard.

Lieutenant Havering, can yeh tell me what's goin' on on tha ship? How're negotiations? Have we found tha crew? Does tha Commander need me?