A chink in their armour?

Posted on Fri Aug 26th, 2016 @ 2:09pm by Lieutenant Valeria Mordin

Mission: Do Not Follow
Location: Sickbay/Intel offices
Timeline: Current

Kevin walked into Sickbay and looked around. Seeing the biobed the rabbitess was lying on, he went over and stood beside it.

"I thought I'd come by and see how you're doing Lieutenant and ask if you're up for doing the analysis the Captains looking for on the alien vessel?" he asked.

Valeria lay in bed, a look on her face unmistakable to any who had ever sat in the same place for more than thirty minutes... she was bored. Though, to the uninitiated observer, she was content. The rabbitess was quite skilled at hiding her frustrations. As Kevin approached, she gave the hint of a smile and turned her glance toward him, though she did not move her head.

"I appreciate the visit. Thank you." she started, "The doctor says that my inner ear vestibular system was damaged from the panel explosion, which I had anticipated given my earlier symptoms. I was given a treatment to promote the healing of the inner ear, though I have to remain still to allow it to work." she explained, "There's a countdown somewhere on the biobed to indicate how long I have to remain still, but I cannot see it."

Indeed there was a countdown on the display above her, slightly out of her field of view. It only had about a minute left.

"You've got about a minute left" Kevin said.

"As for your question, with all respects to the medical wing, I'm up for anything if it gets me up and mobile. Even if it's only to move to another chair and sit. It'd be a chair of my choosing." she said, amused.

"Absolutely" Kevin said, a smile on his face "or we can ask the Medical staff if they can move you to the Intel offices, we have seats there as well" he finished.

At that point his COMM badge chirruped and Karadis' voice came through "Karadis to Lt Kilbane."

Tapping his badge Kevin replied "Kilbane here."

"You asked me to start the preliminary scans of the data from the unknown ship and compare it with file Cee One" Karadis continued "I've started the comparison and something's come up, you're going to want to take a look at this Sir!"

Kevin raised one eyebrow as he looked at Valeria "Curiouser and curiouser said Alice...."

A soft smile grew across her features, "I'll follow through your looking glass. I heard entirely too many jokes about rabbit holes in Academy to take any seriously." A minute... she could wait a minute. "Plus, I have no respect for a rabbit that is perpetually late." she'd wait this minute out, and when the tone sounded indicating its end, a nurse came by to clear her for her own departure. She was warned to take it easy for the next few hours, not to shake her head too violently or engage in any sort of exercise that would compromise her balance.

So cleared, she turned to hang her legs off the edge of the biobed. "If I fall..." she started, looking at Kevin with eyes that refused to reflect anything, "... let me fall. Pride demands I take these steps." and she slid off the biobed edge and stood on her own. With a little help from the edge of the bed. One step. Two steps. A fault, but she caught herself with a fourth step.

"I promise to watch you falling and do absolutely nothing at all to stop you....scouts honour" Kevin replied, holding his hand up in the age old scouting salute.

"Once you feel you're ready, shall we go and see what Karadis has found?" he asked.

"I appreciate your hones..." she was cut off by her own clumsiness, and fell. The rabbitess took in a deep breath, letting it out in what could only be a sigh of frustration at herself, and she picked herself up. Another step, and then another. After a few more steps, she was satisfied with her progress.

It took a great effort for Kevin to fight against his natural instinct to step forward and steady Valeria as she began to fall, but, he wasn't going to go against her wishes so he managed to remain where he was.

"Thank you." she gave Kevin a soft smile, and a nod. "We shouldn't keep Karadis waiting." as she took a few more steps, more directed towards leaving Sickbay. "Thank you for tolerating my pride. As a child I was raised to stand on my own two feet, but taught to expect help because I'm someone's daughter." she shook her head gently.

"Believe me when I say I know how is it to be raised as such" Kevin replied "As one brought up in what most see as a privileged position, we were taught the 'airs and graces of ones station in life', yet at the same time, as part of the male descendent line, I personally had to learn the harsh realities of how to run the family business and be responsible for many others besides. It may sound like I had a privileged upbringing, but at times it was strict and harsh."

He suddenly looked at Valeria and said "I've no idea why I just told you that, I've never said it to anyone else....ever."

She turned to listen to him, her ears perked and pointed in his direction. Indeed, from her body posture, this entire moment was the whole of the universe. She gave a nod as she listened, and then at the end at his revelation she offered a slightly wider smile then the others she showed. "Perhaps because I'm a far more pleasant conversationalist than, say, Mister McClane." she joked with the ghost of a giggle, "Though, thank you for sharing your story. No one will hear of it from me, and on that you have my word." and she repeated the 'scouts honor' salute he offered her. After a moment to hold the solace of the tone, she relaxed and took a few more steps forward. Not only were they more stable with regards to balance but they seemed to be more relaxed. She wasn't trying to walk, she was just walking. "I presume Mr. Karadis is waiting in the Intel offices? I believe I remember their location, but let me know if I lead us astray."

"Yes, indeed, and please, lead the way" Kevin said, bowing slightly from the hip and stepping to the side to allow Valeria room to walk out into the corridor.

A short while later, they stepped through the doors leading to the Intel Offices. Kevin immediately sought Karadis out, shouting "All right Karadis, what has your pants on fire with this data?"

Karadis popped her head out of the office door to his right and replied "I've told you before that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but, being as you're an idiot, and a witless one at that....." she left the rest hanging out there for Kevin to fill in.

"We have a guest Karadis, can't you at least call me Mr Idiot?" Kevin taunted.

"That would mean showing you respect, and you know how I detest doing that!" Karadis answered back, sticking out her tongue.

Kevin turned to Valeria and said "Lt Mordin, this is CWO Karadis, bane of my life."

Turning back to Karadis he said "Karadis, this is Lt Mordin....our Assistant Chief Science Officer, that's o..f..f..i..c..e..r, you do remember how to speak to officers....don't you?"

"Well, let me uh, let me see" Karadis began in her best local yokel voice, pretending to put a piece of straw in her mouth "Be that they's an officer an' all thaaaaaaaat, does I curtsey or does I bow before I speaks to them?"

Kevin looked at Valeria again, and with a slightly crooked and badly disguised smile said "See what I have to put up with around here!"

Valeria gave a smirk at the pair before turning to face Karadis fully, "I'm just a humble farmer's daughter, middle mouth of nine. A field hand turned school girl who was taught at the finest schools she couldn't afford." a soft smile towards the warrant officer. "I'd prefer a bow, as it's more culturally appropriate. Not to mention you're inappropriately dressed for a proper curtsy."

The rabbitess turned back towards Kevin, "Middle mouth of nine. Older brothers and sisters both. I can relate in ways words fail." and after a pause Valeria's glance turned back to Karadis. "Is there a place I can sit? We'd like to review the data as soon as possible."

"Yes, right here" Karadis said, offering Valeria a seat at the main desk console in the room "it's Mr Idiots' chair, but he doesn't need it just now, you do!"

Kevin just turned his eyes up towards the ceiling.

Karadis moved to the side of the seated Valeria and pulled up all the data they had from the Victories skirmish with the unknown attacker. She was just about to do something else when she looked at her boss and said "Sir, the Cee One file is classified..."

Sighing, Kevin looked at Valaria, put his hand back up in the Scouts salute "On your Scouts honour, do you promise not to tell anyone what's in the file?"

"I believe something more substantial than just a scout's oath is required here." and Valeria cleared her throat, "I solemnly swear, on my father's father's honor, that my dying breath will be denial of these facts." she spoke the oath with a deadly sense of seriousness.

Kevin turned to Karadis and said "Satisfied?"

"You're mocking me aren't you?" Karadis asked.

"Obviously" Kevin replied "so can we get on with this now?"

Karadis pulled up the Intel file marked as 'Cee One' and put it on the screen as well. She looked between Kevin and Valeria and said "As you can see, the discharge from the probe data is the same as the phaser fire from the unknown ship we encountered.....it's the same ship."

Valeria tried to keep a straight face as she watched the two interact. "Highly territorial, highly aggressive, well armed and... I believe the term is an itchy trigger finger." Valeria noticed as she looked over the data.

"Enough about Karadis" Kevin mocked "what about the data?"

Valeria actually gave a soft smile at the casual nature of these two. "Any markings or demonstrations of language on the hull?"

"Not from the probe data" Kevin replied "but, if you look at the view data from 'us', there are definite markings along the dorsal fin."

All of a sudden he straightened up "Karadis, go back to time index three eight two!"

Karadis did as she was asked, and then began to play the recording "What is it, what do you see?"

Kevin watched the view data, then asked to see it again, and again, then one last time.

"Perhaps there's a chink in their armour after all" Kevin said, "look at their phaser ports, just before they fire, what do you see!" he added animatedly, pointing at the screen.

Karadis watched the data another three times before she saw it "There!" she shouted "there's a distortion around their phaser ports."

"Which means...." Kevin said, looking between Valeria and Karadis, a broad grin on his face.

"At the moment before they fire, their defenses drop." a pause from the rabbitess, "They can't pierce their own defenses. Which means we can either better track their offensive capacity or... if we can force them to restore their shields during their firing cycle we could potentially..." a pause, "I can't even imagine, if their weaponry can't pierce their shields."

Valeria put on a thoughtful face. "Though, we could target the breech in their defenses. Fire through their shields."

"You just said it yourself Lt Mordin" Kevin said "if we can force them to restore their shields, then they can't fire!"

He looked at Valeria again and said "The Captain needs to know about this, I think we should take it to him..."

With a bit of a delay, Valeria stood to her feet and gave a nod. "Then let's be on our way." the rabbitess then turned to Karadis and gave a soft smile, "It was excellent working with you. I look forward to our next joint project." before she made her way out of the Intel offices, with Kevin close behind.