Gunny Lands On His Feet

Posted on Sat Nov 23rd, 2024 @ 8:41pm by Captain Aisling Banerjee & Lieutenant Commander Dar'Kulthislian th'Voluthrianshain

1,254 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Crew Shakedown
Location: Outside Sickbay

Aisling leaned against the wall with one hand on Elle's shoulder while S'Lace knelt before her and treated her leg wound. In Sickbay the rest of the medical staff along with the burly security guard lt. Commander th'Voluthrianshain had shown up with were working on the unconscious people, sorting them according to her strict instructions.

Aisling was more than a little worried. So far the bridge had failed to be able to contact Duranik and Leath. By this point it was beyond a coincidence.

"Commander," she said to the tall Andorian, "You have come at quite an interesting time. Two of my away teams were attacked and a third cannot be contacted. I also felt it necessary to gas most of my senior staff. I hope you adapt quickly because it appears we will have to act quickly. I-"

Elle reached up and gave Aisling's hand a gentle squeeze. Aisling turned and regarded the holographic representation of the AI curiously, then nodded. She turned back to the Commander, "Also, hypothetically, how would you feel about working with an artificial intelligence whom-with the reluctant approval of the Admiralty-has been granted permission to exist on one of our ships?"

"You could have left that part out," Elle muttered...

Dar'Kulthislian’s mouth opened and closed several times and his antennae moved and changed directions quickly as if trying to search for something. “I ummm” he started and stopped. “Is this some kind of test or a joke” he thought to himself. “An Artificial Life? Gassed senior staff? What kind of ship was this?” he wondered.

“Sir” he began again. He was raised on Andor and taught to obey the chain of command. He didn’t understand any of what was going on but that did not matter. “Sir, if I can be of use then I will do whatever you need Sir.” He saluted the Captain. “ Lieutenant Commander Dar'Kulthislian th'Voluthrianshain, reporting for duty, Sir.”. He looked around once again. “What do you need me to do?”

The Captain and the woman she was leaning against shared a look. Before she could say anything the Vulcan woman working on the Captain's leg rose, "I would advise no running, Captain. And even walking restrain yourself."

"Good thing I have this, then," the Captain replied, holding up her cane.

The Vulcan woman only grunted at that, "You inherited both Hadenbeer's affectation and her artificial intelligence. Hopefully you have not inherited her incessant irrationality as well."

As the Vulcan walked away the young woman standing beside the Captain stuck her tongue out at her departing back.

"This is Elle," the Captain explained, "The not-so-hypothetical artificial intelligence. So far the crew is unaware of her presence, save for a select few. What I am going to need is your patience as Elle is critical to the success of our mission."

Dar'Kulthislian's face is serious and his back is very straight. He looked first at Elle and then back to the Captain "Sir, what exactly is the mission?"

"Oh, I like him," Elle replied, "Very straightforward, very direct. Like launching a quantum torpedo at a target."

Aisling gingerly tested her leg, she applied some weight on it. She muttered, "I am not going to be dancing any time soon," she turned to the Andorian and replied, "Well, there is this one mission we were assigned to, but at the moment we are dealing with duplicates from a 'mirror universe'. You will just have to believe me when I explain that travel to other dimensions is possible. Elle here, for example, has been to them while on-"

"Technically, in-"

Aisling turned and gave Elle a look. Elle wiped a hand across her lower face and the mouth promptly disappeared, a look of contrition in her expressive eyes.

"As I was saying," Aisling continued, turning back to the lieutenant Commander, "We are dealing with possible invaders from other universes. Our original job was to make an assessment and then if necessary travel to these other universes. Only now these interlopers seem to be targeting us."

If the Captain or Elle expected a reaction to the revelation of mirror universe invaders from Dar'Kulthislian, they were disappointed. He took a moment before responding. "Sir, I would assume that the invaders possess a technology greater than our own in order travel to our universe. If that is the case then we are likely compromised on multiple levels. In the event that we cannot go high tech we may wish to implement low tech solutions. Spoken passwords or codes, unique badges or insignias, specific questions involving shared memories that have not been logged into the computer, having personnel work only in teams. These kind of measure could disrupt the invaders attempts to subvert the situation." He paused for another moment. "No measure is foolproof and we can be sure that each step we take will illicit a response in kind."

Dar' turned to look at Elle once again and then back at Captain Aisling. "Permission to ask a question, Sir?"

"Of course, Commander," Aisling replied, "And stop that, Elle. It is most unsettling."

Elle's mouth re-appeared but this time she seemed to have the good sense to keep it shut. For now...

"Where does Mission Specialist Elle fit into the chain of command Sir?" Dar'Kulthislian asked.

Aisling actually smiled at that, "Are you perhaps concerned you might have to take orders from Elle, Commander? Well, that would give me pause as well."

"Hey!" Elle exclaimed.

"However," The Captain pressed on, "Elle is not in the chain of command, meaning you will not be following her orders. By the same token she will not take any orders from you. I regards to standard ship systems she is under some constraints. And while she could in theory deprive you of information or distort data, save for currently hiding her true nature from a majority of the crew she is under ethical imperatives to not do these things."

"Thank you Sir, I understand." is Dar'Kulthislian's simple reply. He pauses for a moment and appears to hesitate for a second before speaking in a softer tone. "Captain my name is difficult for some to pronounce. You may... You may call me Gunny, Sir. I was told it was a old human military nickname. If it pleases you Sir." He cleared his throat before speaking again in a more formal tone. "Captain, where can I be of greatest assistance?"

The Sickbay doors opened again, The Commander saw two officers seemed to be coming around while three were unconscious as well as apparently two civilians, who were older human males.

"Well," Aisling murmured, "I am going to be holding an impromptu staff meeting in the brig. And after that we might be flying into harm's way. I would suggest between now and the staff meeting you briefly familiarize yourself with Kepler's weapons systems and combat capabilities. The ship is principally an exploration and scout vessel, designed to run. But she has teeth."

"Yes Sir" Gunny Dar' replies, eager to see what the Kepler has to offer.

Aisling gave the new CTO a nod and said as she headed down the hall, "Meeting in the brig in twenty minutes...more or less," outside of earshot she murmured to Elle, "His availability was...convenient."

"You think he is a plant?" Elle replied, eyebrows raised slightly.

"Doubtful; no way the enemy could have expected a vacancy in that department so quickly." She paused, then added with a wry smile, "But have Sasha scan him surreptitiously to be certain..."

 

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