Finding Solutions
Posted on Sat Nov 29, 2025 @ 5:28am by Commander Cara Letsul & Commodore T'mpest Michaels & Colonel Nicholas Means III & Lieutenant Commander Curtis Thibideaux & Lieutenant Kael "Vex" Tharien & Lieutenant JG Rachele Lamberti & Lieutenant JG Natalie Cross
1,704 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
Chicken Run
Location: Michaels Office
Timeline: MD02
Once all the messages had been sent out to the various department heads, T'mpest sent runners to ask the chief and assistant chief of intelligence, plus her command team, to meet her in her office to discuss what happened and find out why.
Curtis, had set his computer to sift through various articles until he found the one on using Sonics by Club Neverwinter as a mood altering medium. Cross referencing brought up ancient stories of the Pied Piper. He put out further queries on the use of music to attract, distract or cause fauna to leave the area.
Herding would be the best word for that.
Then there was a low chime that chirped his communicator and caused the contact in his right eye to vibrate slightly, which in itself was slightly disturbing, but worked very well to get his attention.
Tapping his communicator, Curtis said, “Go for Thibideaux.”
“Hello Commander,” an unfamiliar voice sounded in his embedded speaker. “This is Brother Boyle. You’ll be happy to know we have the wiener pigs corralled in a small mud bath crafted by basically making brownie batter with a garlic and onion additive that I hope will mostly keep them from eating all of it.”
“Thank you, Boyle,” Curtis said, a chuckle escaping him. “Is it working?”
The monk paused and said, “Which is mostly working. I think we’ll need an alternative though.”
“Working on it…I think I’ll need a Pied Piper though,” Curtis said, more to himself.
“Bagpipes,” Boyle said right away, smiling. “Do you play, Commander. And real ones. Recorded sounds just aren’t the same, really.”
“No,” Curtis said. His computer link was open and began pulling information on bag-pipes and their sounds effect on animals. “Saxophone, actually. Though it’s been a minute.”
“Well, too bad. You’d likely be amused wearing a kilt…but anyway, I’d try the music. I think you’re on the right track. Bye now.”
The link was cut and Curtis decided he couldn’t dismiss the idea out of hand. After about thirty minutes, he tapped his communicator and said, Thibideaux to Commodore Michaels.."
"Michaels here."
"Commodore, I've found distinct references that music and sonics might just work, ma'am. I'm going to implement a test. If it works, we'll need musicians and likely go deck by deck into containment sites on each deck, then work out a way to move them between decks. So, if you've a tuba handy, ma'am..."
T'mpest hadn't considered music. It was an interesting idea, and one worth exploring. "Not personally...I have bagpipes. Do you want me to try and find a tuba and a tuba player?"
Curtis paused.
Bagpipes again...it couldn't be just a coincidence.
"I have it on good authority that bagpipes are perfect, ma'am. Once the test is complete, I'll get back to you and upload the results. I do plan to start around operations first. We'll need to consider those containments and when to start.
"Good. Let me know how that goes and what you need of me." It was an interesting theory, and had a basis in fact, so T'mpest was interested to hear what Curtis learned.
"Aye aye," Commodore. Thibideaux out." Curtis cut the link, then headed for his quarters for his saxophone. It had been a few months since he'd played, but needs must. With most of the lifts out of service or overly taxed, he took to the stairwells and that took time as they were crowded with people trying to move around and various animals sifting through, squawking and honking as they might. Curtis took it all as commentary on the animal’s part and decided that this was going to be very funny.
In a month or two.
At his quarters, he let himself in and went to a storage closet where he extracted the case and within moments had his sax out and a body sling wrapped about his neck and torso. He was adjusting the reed and mouthpiece when he heard a chittering and looked to see four....Otters? Staring at him from a mess that had been his bed a few hours ago.
"Well drahk," Curtis muttered as he took stock, the otters appeared to be waiting to see what he would do next.
Which was a good question.
Natalie had kept her head down since returning to DS5. A new Commodore had taken command, and so far, she’d managed to stay out of trouble. But when a runner arrived with word that the Intelligence team had been summoned, she took a deep breath. At least she wouldn’t be the only one there and with any luck, she wouldn’t be the first to arrive.
The door slid open at her chime. The Commodore was inside. Alone. Natalie paused. So much for luck. She stepped inside. “Ma’am.” She said with a nod. “Reporting as ordered.”
"Thank you for coming. Please, have a seat," the commodore said.
Natalie nodded, and took a seat.
Rachele made her way through the corridors of DS5, the place was a lot bigger than her previous assignment Empok Nor. She half missed the reassuring architecture of the former Cardassian station. This was in part due to the fact she was one of the few non-Cardassian and non-vassal species to grow up among Cardassians, her adoptive parents being Cardassians.
She left Cardassia Prime after being rejected from serving in the Cardassian military.
At Starfleet Academy she was bullied as she was a human, that acted like a Cardassian.
Now she was Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer on a Federation Deep Space Station.
Arriving at the meeting place, she waited for the Commodore to acknowledge Natalie, before making her presence known, mentally analysing the room and its inhabitants.
"Come in," T'mpest replied to the door. When it opened, she gave Rachele a nod. "Welcome. Please, come in and have a seat."
"Thank you, Ma'am." Rachele said adjusting her uniform, before taking the offered seat.
The door opened once more revealing Cara and Nick arriving at the same time.
"Commodore, Lieutenants and Commanders." Cara taking a seat, at the table.
Means followed Cara in and nodded to T'mpest before greeting the others. "Afternoon all." Taking a seat next to Cara.
Kael arrived at the briefing chamber a full six minutes behind the scheduled start. Not enough to be disruptive. Just enough to be noticed.
The door hissed open to reveal the Commodore already arrived with key members of her senior staff and department leads positioned around the room. Conversations hushed slightly as he stepped inside, the Intelligence division’s absence until now clearly not ideal.
He didn’t hesitate.
“Commodore,” he said with a nod of acknowledgment as he approached, voice even. “Apologies for the delay. I was finishing a systems lockdown on Deck 9.”
A brief pause.
“There was... a situation involving an animal attempting to interface with secure assets. Containment protocols took longer than anticipated.”
His expression was calm. Almost unreadable.
Means shook his head with a coy grin.
He took the nearest available seat without further elaboration, back straight, hands folded, focus already shifting to the matter at hand.
"That sounds fascinating," T'mpest replied. "I would like to hear more about the attempted interface at a later date." But right now, they had a more immediate problem.
She looked around the table. "You are all aware of the current problem. What I would like is for you to find out what happened and why. We know the glitter came from an experiment on one of the docked ships and the animals came from the pattern buffer of the SS Minnow. But how they interacted with the station is unknown."
Natalie glanced around at the others gathered before straightening in her chair. A quiet thought lingered at the back of her mind. Did the Commodore suspect sabotage rather than a simple accident behind the chaos unfolding on the station?
Rachele listened to the Commodore's words. She wondered if this had anything to do with the 'Black Hand' attack on Empok Nor, and made a note on her PADD. "There has been reports of recent 'Black Hand' activity, they attacked Empok Nor, when I was there." Rachele said. "They may be involved."
"A group called the Ashen Hand has been causing mayhem at different locations. A club on Empok Nor was attacked, causing structural damage, but no one was seriously injured. It is believed they also planned to have the Minnow lose containment as it landed on Orwell colony. Unfortunately, the ship had mechanical problems and came here first." Most of the information was supposition, but T'mpest thought the pieces seemed to fit. "I would like to know if the transportation of the 5000 animals with glitter can be tied to the Ashen Hand or if it is simply a coincidence."
Natalie nodded. “If the Ashen Hand had any involvement, it won’t be random.” She said. “They favor chaos with purpose.” She jotted a quick note on her PADD. “But this feels more like something that went wrong. I’ll pull the Minnow’s logs and start there.”
"We have a lot of random pieces," T'mpest continued. "It is my hope you can put them together and come up with answers."
"Whatever the reason and how this happened, it all boils down to we've got a mess to clean up, especially before the Marine Birthday Ball." Cara commented, her brow furrowing. "I do feel that we will be able to overcome this as we do work well as a team."
"I believe you have enough to begin with." T'mpest looked at everyone. "Do you have any questions?"
Cara shook her head, "The best thing I can say is< we need to get to work."
Natalie shook her head. “No questions, ma’am. I’ll get started on the logs immediately.”
Commander Cara Letsul
XO
Deep Space Five
Lieutenant JG Natalie Cross
Field Operative
Deep Space Five
Commodore T'mpest Michaels
Commander
Deep Space 5
Kael "Vex" Tharien
Chief Intelligence Officer
Deep Space 5
Lieutenant Rachele Lamberti
Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer
Deep Space 5
Lieutenant Commander Curtis Thibideaux
Strategic Operations Officer
Deep Space 5
Colonel Nicholas Means III
MCO - 21st MEU
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