Devices, Drive and Dedication

Posted on 18 Jun 2016 @ 5:22pm by Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler

2,178 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Armory
Timeline: MD 01 || 1400 Hours Hours

"What do you mean he was transferred?!" The question came from the Chief's office. "Damnit! He was supposed to be working on those acoustical devices in the Armory. Nevermind!"

Camila stormed out of her office and looked at the duty officer. "You're in charge until I get back."

"Yes, Lieutenant," the officer said as she moved to transfer everything to her terminal that she was authorized for.

"Cooper? Where's Cooper?" Camila demanded, then stopped. "She's Gamma and sleeping. Crap." She reached up and tapped her combadge as she headed out of Security and for the Armory. =^=Di Pasquale to Corwin. Meet me at the Armory in five minutes.=^=

Once she made the armory, she pulled the Master-at-Arms aside and waited for Corwin to show up.

=^=On my way.=^= Joey said, tapping her combadge to end the transmission before making her way to the armory with Rico in tow. It didn't take long before she arrived, turning her attention to Camila. "You wished to see me, Lieutenant?"

"Yes," Camila said as she looked up at the much taller woman when she entered. "I had a meeting with Lieutenants Cooper, David and Alexander just before our arrival at Unity and Alexander was the now-former Master-at-Arms. I had placed him in charge of coming up with a working long range acoustical device and now it seems he's transferred off the ship. I have to work on this myself, but I could use an extra mind and hands if you have time."

"I have the time, Lieutenant," The taller woman said, releasing Rico's leash so he could curl up out of the way. "What is this device for, exactly?"

"The long range acoustical device causes human discomfort when a sound hits 120dB, well below the LRAD's threshold. Permanent hearing loss begins at 130dB, and if the device is turned up to 140dB, anyone within its path would not only suffer hearing loss, they could potentially lose their balance and be unable to move out of the path of the audio," Camila explained to both her and the Master-at-Arms. "I wanted Alexander to come up with it based on old designs modified to modern standards. If the crews of the Chimera and Cochrane are unable to keep their balance or hear, we'll have the advantage when we catch up to them."

Joey listened intently as Camila explained. "There's an easier way," She said, folding her arms as her features took on a thoughtful look. "You mentioned Chimera and Cochrane, which indicates two ships. It would only take two Security officers to take down the crew of both ships using the acoustical devices you just mentioned. Of course... the two officers would have to be completely insane and not mind putting themselves into a situation they might not make it out of." She looked back toward to Camila, waiting for the obvious question to come next.

"Before we do that, we need to make the devices," Camila before she looked at Corwin. "Are you volunteering, Lieutenant?"

"To aid you in making the devices, yes. As for my idea, which I will explain once we've completed this, we'll see how you feel about it first," She said.

"Very well, Lieutenant." She turned to the Master-at-Arms. "Access the database and pull up anything you can on Long Range Acoustical Devices and replicate everything we'll need for them."

"Yes, Chief," the man said before he headed off to do what she wanted.

Camila looked back at Corwin. "We have time. Let me hear your idea before I decide if they'd be a waste of time considering you said it would require someone insane or willing to step into a situation they may not come out of."

"It's pretty simple, really," Joey said. "Once we can get passed their shields, two Security officers beam aboard the Chimera and Cochrane with the LRADs. One on each ship... phasers set to stun the first individual who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Once they've been overcome, and are unconscious, a simple tap of their combadge to open a ship-wide channel, then operation LRAD can commence. There would be nowhere to run... nowhere to hide... nowhere to escape. The entire crew would succumb to the effects, thus leaving us available to do whatever it is we need to. As for our people, I'm sure Medical will be able to do something to prevent it from effecting us. An implant, a goo, a plus of some sort... just something that would get the job done."

Camila listened quietly and thought for a moment. "Considering the fact that the ships we're after are heading for the Hadyn Nebula. If a ship finds itself inside, sensors and shields will be left non-functional. Shipboard phasers will see their effective range reduced by seventy-five percent. Navigational systems will be spotty at best, requiring the ship to utilize visual scanning. We'll be able to board them without an issue, but you're right. It will be a very dangerous away mission that the volunteers may not come back from."

"Which is why, I volunteer," The taller woman said. Since it was her idea, she couldn't see sending anyone else to do it. "I could do it alone, but it would take more time. In that instance, a fail-safe would need to be applied to the first device to emit the sound waves so beaming to the second ship would be possible."

Camila shook her head. "I admire your dedication, Lieutenant," she said. "But we'll have to make simultaneous assaults on both ships before one can send word to the other. There may be species aboard who are immune to the effects and resist. I can't let you do it alone."

"Possibly, which would increase the risk, but as the saying goes... 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of a few'," Joey stated. "Which is why I volunteer myself to go. I've been trained to handle myself in extremely dangerous situations."

"I'll accept you as a volunteer for the mission, but I will not let you do this alone," Camila said firmly. "I cannot and will not send anyone on this mission and expect them to do everything themselves."

"Lieutenant Di Pasquale, I do not want to do this alone." And Joey didn't take too kindly to what Camila just said to her. "I think you failed to see the bigger picture of what I was saying. Another officer, and myself, doing this would be for the needs of the many. Even though I mentioned saying I could do it alone, did not mean I would do it alone. My idea might be incredibly insane and dangerous, but I think this is going to be our only shot to immobilize them."

"I misunderstood, Lieutenant," Camila said. "Forgive me on that. You have an excellent idea. In fact, I want you to assess likely candidates for the upcoming missions and bring them to me. I would recommend Lieutenant Cooper as she is also SAR trained. Anyone else, I'll leave to you."

"All is forgiven, but shouldn't the idea be run past Captain Geisler before interviewing candidates begins?" She found herself asking.

"True enough," Camila said as the master-at-arms returned with a crate of items which looked like three foot long tubes that flared outwards on one end.

"I found these in the LCARS, Lieutenant," he said. "They're an improvement over the LRAD devices you wanted me to look up. Each is capable of generating up to two hundred decibels of sound and the frequencies rotate to cover most known species in the Federation and known enemies of the Federation. The idea was scrapped some time back due to inhumane treatment of opponents, but they made a modification which wouldn't be inhumane. Now it generates the sound to disorient opponents without causing deafness, but the effects only last thirty minutes."

Camila took one of the tubes and looked it over, seeing the trigger and a display that could be adjusted to increase or decrease the loudness and modulate the frequencies. "Good work," she told the man. "Thank you." She handed one to Corwin as the man headed off to resume his normal duties. "I think we may have something here."

Joey took the tube from Camila and looked it over. "I think this could work. Thirty minutes should be more than enough time to make everything happen."

Camila checked the time as she put her sound device back in the crate. "Do you have any other suggestions?" she asked.

"No. Once I've gotten word about Captain Geisler's decision, I'll begin the process of finding a second suitable person," She said, lowering the device she'd been holding back into the crate. "You've known me all of five minutes and probably think I am completely insane."

"Not at all," Camila said. "Dedicated and enthusiastic. If you want insane, go talk to Lieutenant Cooper. Well, it's not fair to call her insane, really, but she'll give you a dozen ideas in one breath and a dozen more in another before you can respond to one idea. I have the computer record her and play back at one third speed."

"I appreciate the warning, thank you," Joey said. "Let me know what the Captain says, then we can take it from there, yes?"

"Will do," Camila said. "That's all for now, Lieutenant." She paused, then remembered something and went to a shelf to retrieve a thin web belt which had pockets and a variety of hoops and hooks to hand to her. "This is an idea that Cooper came up with. You can put your phaser, a stun grenade, medkit, gas mask and other things on this and not have to worry about loading your hands up."

"A utility belt?" Joey took it from Camila. "I've got a belt that I've been using since I began my career, but I'll keep this as a spare, though. It was easier to keep what I needed with me."

"Smart," Camila said. "I just managed to get mine customized. I added some extra straps so everything wouldn't bounce around if I had to run."

"I have ankle straps for the truly important things. A belt can be removed easily enough in a scuffle. Plus... I've gotten into a habit of hiding other things because one never knows what they'll come across."

Camila looked over Corwin's uniform and then back at her. "Do I want to know where you hide other things at?"

"My boots. Where else would I hide anything?" She asked with a laugh, knowing what Camila had been thinking.

"Uh uh," Camila said. "Boots can't hide that much and still be comfortable. I've heard stories about Klingons who carry ten to twelve weapons and things at a time over their entire uniform, but our uniforms are form-fitting, and yours has an rather obvious place to hide more things."

"Hey... if you've got it, use it," Joey said with a smile. "A phaser fits rather nicely."

Camila laughed. "I like you, Corwin," she said. "I'm usually stuck with a Type I hiding somewhere on me."

"If you're not opposed to it, I've got some bladed weapons I can tuck into my boots. Never know when something like that might come in handy."

"I usually resort to Jiu Jitsu in a pinch," Camila said. "But I'm not adverse to the idea of bladed weapons in combat. The enemy will use any and everything against us and it's good to have backup. You should have a tour of my quarters sometime."

"I know my way around mixed martial arts, so I'm able to defend myself easily enough, but it's best to be prepared for anything that might come our way," Joey pointed out. "As for taking a tour of your quarters, maybe we can arrange something once all of this is over."

"It'd be interesting to see if you could find all the weapons I've hidden there," Camila said. "I was a former Master-at-Arms and learned to hide things rather well."

"No worries. I'll have my own stashed once I can really get settled in here," The tall woman said.

"Is there anything else you'd like to bring up before we get down to business?" Camila asked her.

"No, I think anything else can wait for the time being," Joey replied.

"I'll let you know what the Captain thinks as soon as I speak with him," Camila said. "Until then, just go over a list of personnel and see who you think is best before you interview them."

"I will, then let you know who the final choice will be. Take care, Lieutenant," She said, moving over to Rico to take his leash. The canine was on his feet in a second and ready to go, following his human out the door to move on to the next order of business.

With that, Camila headed out to brief the rest of Security

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