Situation In The Situation Room

Posted on Thu Nov 7th, 2019 @ 2:50pm by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Ensign Michael Sloan & Lieutenant Commander Lukas Carter & Major Samuel King & Lieutenant Aurelius Davis & Lieutenant Min Seong
Edited on on Thu Nov 7th, 2019 @ 2:52pm

Mission: Mission 2 - Fallout
Location: Situation Room
Timeline: Day 2, Month 1, Year 0 09:45
2565 words - 5.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Beth normally would have set the coffee up or had some snacks but there was nothing to spare. Anything and everything had to be used for surviving now, all nourishment was to be savoured for what it truly was giving them extra life. The woman looked up from where she was sat in the situation room and for once she was naming it how it was, they were in a dire situation as someone finally arrived. Being alone the last half an hour had given her far to much time to think so she was relieved to see someone.

It had been a tough time for everyone, the unknown of where they were, what was to come. More so seemed to be everyone's preoccupation with the number of years it would take to get home and truth be told it had crossed his mind. Purely this was due to his young children. Would he see them again? In his heart, he knew he would.

Stepping through the door, lowering his head to get through, he noted the Commander now Captain and greeted her. "Penny for your thoughts Captain?" Sam asked.

Darcy followed Sam in, nearly bumping into him when he stopped. "Oh, I'm sorry." She blushed slightly and took a seat well away from the others. She'd been standing in the science lab just trying to make heads or tales of what they were looking at, where they were and how to get home. Not to mention with this long a journey they were going to need supplies and as science officer, it was her job to make sure things were edible once she found them a planet to explore. She felt like the entire universe was resting on her shoulders.

Min was quick to appear shortly after, curtly nodding at the surrounding staff before taking a seat. She had a pen and paper in hand, trading the personal tablets they favored on the off chance they could use the power from them. Mumbling under her breath, she began jotting down notes of the coming day and what she still had to do.

Beth offered a nod to each of the Officers and indicated the seats dotted around. "Might as well get comfortable before the others arrive." The woman said simply ignored the MACO's offer for her to tell him her thoughts, he would hear them all too soon. "We are just waiting for Carter and Sloan." She acknowledged that both men were missing but she knew they had reasons, both were busy.

"Right, sorry about that," Carter said, hearing the Captain's admonishment of his tardiness. If his mother could see him, she'd be sorely disappointed. Like just about everyone aboard the Atlantis, Carter wore his work coveralls into the meeting, but the days of nonstop repairs and modifications were evident by the smudges and stains that blotted his blue jumpsuit. "Damn sensor alterations are taking longer than expected." His usual cheery demeanor was absent.

Beth nodded at his comment first about being sorry and then secondly about the sensor alterations. Nothing was going the way it should be and it was all out of there control. "Take a seat we are just waiting for the Executive Officer and the information he is bringing." Beth had sent him to get the proper information about the food.

"Yes ma'am," Darcy said, sitting down in the middle of the table, without paying much attention to where anyone else sat. Her eyes were following people in the room but her thoughts were far outside the ship into the unknown that surrounded them.

Min chose a seat next to the engineer, noting his demeanor for a passing moment. "I can send two of your crew who ended up in my sickbay. They needed a final once over, but I think two pairs of hands will help you." She gave him a side-eye of disapproval. "But you have to promise to come to me after the meeting. I want to make sure everything is in order with you as well."

"As long as you have more than an order for me to get some sleep, I will accept that deal, Doctor," Lukas said.

The last to arrive was this ship's Chief Armory Officer and Acting XO. Unlike the others, he knew the devastating news that was about to be dropped on them. He was late to the meeting because he had been organizing the ship's security to meet increased demand. As he entered the room and took his seat, he nodded toward Beth as if to indicate that preparations were complete. They were ready for the news.

Beth offered a small sad smile to the Executive Officer as he came in and took the free chair next to her. "Good Morning. I know I have not called a meeting of you all together yet because we have been just so busy but I have checked on all of you." The woman paused as she down finally in her own chair and looked at them all. "I know this is not easy for any of us far from home but we have a greater issue. Our food and water supplies have been irradiated." She said simply. There was no reason to mince words. They needed to know the cold solid facts.

"As in they're no longer suitable for us to eat them?" It felt like the stupidest of questions but Darcy wanted to make sure she wasn't hearing things or putting ideas into her own head about how serious things were for them.

"Completely unsuitable." The new Officer in Charge assured looking at Darcy unsure if she had minced her words or if she was just wanting to hear it a second time to let it all sink in. She had not even told them how long the stores were going to last.

Carter hung his head and grimaced at the news.

"And so what does that mean exactly? We have no food or water left at all?" Darcy was trying to keep the panic from her voice.

"God damn it!" Sam yelled hitting the table with one of his fists. Sometimes his frustration got the better of him. It played into the stereotype that his 'kind' (MACOs) were unstable or somehow incapable of logical thought. "Surely we have reserves? Rations?" he asked as he calmed down from his initial outburst.

"... Hm." was all the doctor managed to let out as she stroked her chin. There was a thought, and while it may not have been the most fruitful, she would have had to do a little more research on the matter.

Breathing out, Sloan began speaking. He looked at those gathered to try to gauge their emotions as he said, "We currently have about four days of food and water supplies that were stored outside their normal storage areas. I've posted guards around the remaining supplies and have secured all armory locations to prevent any... desperate actions." He rubbed his forehead just above his right eyebrow as he asked, "Carter, that new sensor package we talked about, we are going to have to put it through its paces sooner than we had anticipated. Is it ready for rollout?"

"Almost, Commander," Carter answered. "But I haven't been able to reconfigure the tactical array. As it stands, if I flip the switch now, we'll be without short-range weapons targeting systems."

"Has the food and water been disposed of already?" Min asked curiously. "Or at least the water? Food is a little more difficult, but I have an idea, especially if we find ourselves pressed. Is there a chance we could create a complex water filtration system and salvage some of the water supply? Old methods of reverse osmosis and carbon filtration worked in the early twenty-first century. With a little creative engineering, I feel confident we should be able to sort a solution out."

"Yes, outside of the water already... in you," Michael replied. Leaning forward a bit, he explained, "The radiation that was detected was the same that forced us to take shelter. The ship's filtration is unable to filter it out and no methods were available." Trying to inject a little bit of hope, he added, "However, any new water sources should last almost indefinitely and as long as people eat, we can reclaim some amount of protein to give us a bit of emergency rationing." Diving into the details on that topic, Michael felt, would sour his taste for the emergency protein.

Beth could relate to the unspoken thoughts about how much detail to go into. They all knew the facts now that they were on the table. "What we need to do going forward is strict rationing and get the sensor package working. Helm is trying to pinpoint where we are in the galaxy and get us a path home so we can get out of the purple haze quickly and find a food supply for our sequencers." Beth glanced to the window and frowned at the purple that greeted her.

"I'll volunteer for extra shifts at the helm since all I do is sit there." Aurelius offered, "I don't require much rest and I probably couldn't rest if I tried anyway."

The Commander smiled as Aurelius led them into the second point that the command pair needed to bring up. Beth glanced at Sloan and the other point that they needed to discuss with the senior officers. "Well, we all need rest as well. When was the last time anyone had any rest?" She wondered off the group already knowing that barely any of them had rested since they had ended up where ever they were.

"Oh no, I've had plenty of rest." Min pointed out. "If I haven't rested, then no one is going to receive proper care." She crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing the rest of the senior staff as if to assess restfulness just by appearance, which was easier said than done.

Surprised by the smile, Aurelius eyed the new Captain carefully. He was quite serious that he 'd take extra shifts. He really didn't think he'd be able to sleep until a way home was at least plotted in front of him. "I require very little rest and even if I tried I doubt I could rest yet."

"We have talked, and we do want to encourage everyone to force themselves at least six hours nightly," Michael echoed Beth's sentiments. "We don't want to have to impose forced confinements in quarters." As he spoke, Michael knew that he was just as guilty as the rest. He had probably only gotten a few hours since they arrived wherever they were. He thanked his military background for his ability to push through, but he was worried that too much pushing through would cause the crew to make mistakes.

"We do not want to but we will impose confinements if needed. None of us can continue on the lack of rest we all are suffering." Beth knew she was the worst person to be saying that but no one other than Sloan needed to know that. "So who needs rest immediately?" Beth asked honestly knowing that Aurelius had already offered and Min seemed to be keeping herself rested somehow so she had two seniors officers on duty so others could be relieved.

Sam smiled as the others spoke. He had been a military man long enough to spot fatigue on anyone and the CO and XO were showing the most. Albeit to others they all looked tired and on their last legs but Sam had trained to go without sleep for days if necessary. Whereas this was not healthy sometimes situations required it and he had ways of keeping himself going, and to his MACO's that was everything. "I'm good," Sam said as the others thought of how to answer. "Only concern I have is with the focus levels of the MACO's, most are young and inexperienced. Only a few of us have been in service long enough to know how to react to situations that require less sleep. I have already spoken with them that, as you say, they need rest."

Nodding at the MACO, Michael spoke up, "We relieve half the MACOs and a portion of the armory personnel, mix those who aren't scheduled for downtime. Then, substitute. It'll get our departments to learn to work together and hopefully develop a rapport while not sacrificing security matters." It would be difficult for a day or two to ensure everyone got a full 8 hours of sleep time, but the crew needed it. "It will take a day or so to make the necessary sensor configurations, so take advantage while we can," he said to everyone.

Beth nodded as the discussion between the Marine and armoury Officer. "Anyone have any questions about our situation?"She asked opening the room up for anyone to ask something. Nothing was off the table, they were at rock bottom already.

"How do we handle disciplinary action? We can't just stick crewman in their quarters for the next decade. And reports in your personnel file are meaningless this far from Starfleet," Lukas stated, looking around the room. "We will have problems with the crew, especially if the situation deteriorates."

"My advice is to stick as close to Starfleet rules and regulations as we can," Michael spoke up. "This far from home with nothing but hope to cling onto, structure and purpose will give us a reason to keep going, something that reminds us of home." Looking to Lukas, he then conceded, "However, you are right, we can't just lock people ion their quarters to drain resources. As punishment, there are certain jobs that don't require much skill but are undesirable. We could require a certain number of community service hours as penance depending on the severity of the crime."

"It might be a little less concerning right away," Min pointed out. "Though if we are in such a dire situation, I would be less worried about petty theft and small fights breaking out and more worried about the morale of those aboard. A fine balance." She returned her attention to the work she had brought along with her. "... Pardon, it was what was on my mind."

"No, I think we're all thinking it," Aurelius said softly. "We'll just take things one day at a time and help each other. After all, we've got no choice now."

Beth listened to them all and nodded, it would take time to adjust and find a new way of working and managing people. They would have to work together to first find a way home and secondly but no less important was to find a source of food. "All we can do really. What other choice do we have but to take it one day at a time?" Beth said simply. There was no other way?

"By your word, ma'am," Lukas said.

OFF::

Commander Bethsabee Leroux
Officer In Charge/Chief Communications Officer
NX Atlantis

Lt. Commander Michael Sloan
Acting First Officer/Chief Armory Officer
NX Atlantis

Lt. Commander Lukas Carter
Chief Engineer
NX Atlantis

Lieutenant Aurelius Davis
Chief Helmsman
NX Atlantis

Lieutenant Min Seong
Chief Medical Officer
NX Atlantis

Major Samuel King
MACO Commanding Officer
NX Atlantis