Isolinear Chip

Posted on 14 Mar 2016 @ 7:21pm by Commander C. Kos & Commodore Harvey Geisler

1,903 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Outbreak
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: MD 0

Mackenzie sat across the desk from Harvey. "How are you feeling?"

Harvey grunted, setting a PADD down on the table. Despite Doctor Kij's orders to take a week off, Harvey simply couldn't stay away. His ship had been ravaged yet again, though the damage was centered on the crew's spirits. Seeing their Captain wander the halls and even make regular appearances on the bridge would be essential to the crew.

Besides, reviewing the crew's reports on the mutiny had been interesting. He'd reviewed twenty different waypoints so far, each one shedding a totally different light on this situation. Piecing together the full story would still take some time.

Those thoughts had nothing to do with Commander Kos' question, however. "Better," Harvey replied. "Still stings though."

"Harvey," she began, her voice quiet. "I'm sorry."

The Captain looked at her, but gave no reply. By the time he thought of what to say, Mac was already expounding.

"I shouldn't have given up. I just sat there in Detention, resigned to wait it out. Meanwhile, del Rosario was busy incapacitating you. If it weren't for Kij and Andropov breaking me out, who knows what would have happened."

He slowly nodded, leaning forward in his chair to get closer to her. Had her hand been on the desk, he would have placed his over it. "Mac, I'm sorry too."

"For what?" she asked, surprised.

"I should have stuck up for you after the power outage," he explained. "I let myself be blinded by the situation and what Carter had done months ago."

Mackenzie pursed her lips. "There is that," she said sourly. "But I understand. Once bitten, twice shy."

She looked down at the data chip in her hand. She'd kept it on her person since del Rosario had handed it to her before turning himself in. She hadn't reviewed the information on it yet, having waited for Geisler to be available so they could look at it together.

"Del Rosario left this with me," she said, holding up the chip. "He said that this will explain everything."

Harvey frowned, letting his eyes lock onto the chip. "Let me guess... some sort of virus or computer worm?"

"Anything's possible," she admitted, "but he seemed genuinely resigned when he surrendered. I don't think it's anything malicious."

Harvey thought about summoning his Yeoman to take a first look at the chip. Alas, if what Kos said was true, perhaps it was worth a first look by themselves. The Captain swung his terminal around so that the data slot was available to the First Officer. "Let's take a look."

She slid the chip into the slot and watched as the display came to life, filling with data. She read as fast as she could, trying to identify recognizable information. "Decrypted computer access logs, a list of hacked security protocols....."

"I'm not sure what del Rosario was trying to prove with this," Mac said, her voice showing her dejection. Somehow, she had been expecting a 'smoking gun', a piece of evidence that was so glaring that it left no question as to who the guilty party was.

"You'd think he'd put a big red X on it," Harvey commented. The information wasn't making too much sense to him either. Perhaps it had been the prolonged end they'd both had seen since del Rosario relinquished command of the Black Hawk that made them unable to decipher what was before them. Then again, he wasn't much of a computer specialist.

"Maybe it's the sequence that was used to cut the Black Hawk's power," he supposed. "Or worse, a command to rewrite command protocols and do something even worse. Maybe even a worm that was to be planted aboard the O'Carroll."

"You might be onto something, Harvey," Kos said. She tapped a few controls, bringing up a split screen of del Rosario's data string side-by-side with the standard coding for the power node that had been sabotaged. She pointed to a section of the proper code. "See this part? This is what the malicious code would have attacked. And this," she motioned to data from the isolinear chip, "would fit into this sequence perfectly."

"What does it mean?" Harvey asked, bringing a free hand to cover his chin in a thinking pose as if it would help. It didn't.

Kos shook her head, not sure yet herself. She kept scrolling through the data from the chip. Then she saw it. "There," she said, locking eyes with Harvey, her finger jabbing at the data record on the screen.

It was an authorization code belonging to a Starfleet officer. Most of it was corrupted and illegible, but not the beginning of the code. "Lieutenant Bast?" he asked. Sighing, Harvey leaned back in his chair and looked back at Mac.

"And not del Rosario," Mac said. She was aware of the surprise in her voice.

"Well, it certainly fits, especially knowing he was the one who boarded the T'Pring without anyone knowing and started destroying the evidence." He sighed again. There were still too many unanswered questions.

"What are we going to do about Bast? There's a free cell in Detention now."

"I don't know," Harvey confessed, looking back at Mac. "I'm supposed to meet with Task Force Command soon. I know they won't take him, despite someone else pulling Bast's strings. We'll likely be stuck with him."

Mac glowered at Harvey. Having been set up by the Trill Lieutenant, she was especially interested in getting Bast off the Black Hawk.

"Starfleet in this sector is tremendously stretched, except for Ops and Science personnel. There's nowhere I can send him that will take him. Besides. given Starfleet's own history with personnel being controlled by another, there's very little ground for me to stand on if I could send him away. Even Picard experienced it more often than not."

"Yeah," she began. "I still think he should spend some time in Detention."

"He's got to get out of Sickbay first. For now, he's at least under armed guard. Lieutenant Di Pasquale will make sure he doesn't go anywhere."

"Little solace to this Commander who was wrongly incarcerated," Mac said, disappointed. "Kij could monitor him in Detention."

"If she'll allow us to move him," Harvey countered. "Last I heard, he wasn't stable yet."

"Enough about the Lieutenant. How are you feeling, Harvey?"

His side twitched at her question. "Getting there," he winced, sitting up again. "I've been stunned before, but never like that. Whatever you do, Mac, don't take a phaser shot at point blank."

She looked at him. She cared deeply about Harvey. They had gotten very close since she'd first come aboard and she definitely had hoped that they could move beyond the friendship they seemed to have formed.

What about Walsh? she heard a voice say inside her head.

"I'm sorry that happened. I really am Harvey."

He looked back at her, wondering she was apologizing yet again. "What's going on, Mac?" he asked, sensing that there was a deeper issue at hand.

Mackenzie took a deep breath. Her time in Detention, and specifically her visit from Lieutenant Stuart, had helped her realize that she had some emotional issues to work through. Witnessing the deaths of Braxus and Reza was effecting her, potentially more than she knew.

"Harvey," she started.

He again considered reaching out to take her hand, but the desk provided too much separation for the two of them. Harvey had no choice but to scoot his chair as close as he could to the desk.

"I don't know if I can continue as your Exec."

Harvey recoiled at the thought. "Wh..." he tried to say, failing to obscure his shock. "What makes you say that?"

Sucking in a large breath, and then exhaling deeply, Mackenzie began. "I haven't been 'right' in a while Harvey. I'm not completely sure what it is, but I think its related to Nestene. I've been struggling a lot since then."

She paused and wiped away the tears that were forming in the corners of her eyes. "During my stint in Detention, Counselor Stuart visited me and we talked a little. It made me realize that I've got some things I need to work through. My behavior has been...off...ever since we returned from Nestene. Remember when we were supposed to have dinner on DS11?"

How could he forget? It had been the first time since boarding the Black Hawk he'd actually thought about having a casual evening with someone, and all he could do was attempt to console her. Instead of a verbal reply, he chose to nod his acknowledgement.

"I wasn't very good company then," she offered. Flashes of her afternoon with Walsh filled her head. "At least not for you."

Harvey's left eyebrow arched at the comment as a result of both surprise and intrigue. He did wonder if he had a handkerchief stashed away in the office somewhere in the event that she had another episode. "You had just come off something incredibly stressful," he replied. "Sometimes it takes emotions a while to manifest."

"Truer words," she replied. Stepping down as the Black Hawk's Executive Officer was not a decision she could make lightly. But it felt like the right one.

"I think you should request a new XO, Harvey."

To say Harvey was taken aback was an understatement. "I... I'm not sure I want to."

She had prepared for this response. "I don't feel comfortable in the position. I'm not sure I can continue to perform the job. Hell, I'm not sure if I'm even any good at it."

"Look, Mac," Harvey said, leaning forward and reaching for one of her hands. "You're a damn good XO. And now, more than ever, the Black Hawk needs you. I need you."

A tingle went through her at his touch. "Thank you Harvey," she replied. "Really. I'm glad that one of us has faith in my abilities right now."

He wanted to say something, but she acted faster than he could react.

Mac looked at Harvey intently, her eyes pleading. "I need to take leave. Request a new Exec."

Harvey stared at her, stunned. He wanted to talk her out of it, convince her to stay, but the more he thought about it, he realized how selfish his reasoning would sound to her. Instead, he gently squeezed her hand. "Mac..." he said, meeting her pleading gaze. I don't want to.

Sighing, Harvey nodded, acknowledging her request. "Will you be staying on Unity or on board?" he asked, hoping she'd choose the latter.

"I'll be staying here and working with Doctor Stuart," Mackenzie answered. "Plus, I have...a support system here." She decided not to elaborate. The idea of telling Harvey about Walsh still scared her.

"I can move out of my quarters so my replacement can use them."

"Out of the question!" Harvey immediately replied. "The last thing anyone needs is to see the Exec... you changing rooms. You can stay right where you are as long as you're on board."

A sigh of relief escaped her lips before she could stop it. She didn't want to move, though she knew that Walsh wouldn't mind her staying with him.

He squeezed her hand again. "Mac, if you need anything. Anything. I'm here."

"Thank you Harvey. You are a good man. And a good friend."

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