You’re installing what??? Part 1

Posted on Tue Oct 22nd, 2019 @ 7:16am by Lieutenant Commander Arianna Sky Kamar & Major Naomi Sylan Griffiths & Chief Petty Officer "Chief" Alpha I CSH

Mission: Onboarding & Departure
Location: Main Engineering
Timeline: One week before the USS Pennsylvania departs Starbase 11

[ON]

Main Engineering was a hive of activity, engineers or specialist running from one side to the other, madly trying to finish last-minute tasks before the Pennsylvania was due to depart, Petty Officer Stevenson was here to complete such as task himself. After all, the Pennsylvania had been selected to extensively field test a new holographic creation from Dr Lewis Zimmerman and team, the Command & Support Hologram (Or CSH for short) is a revolutionary program that has been designed to integrate with any Starfleet ship or facility and offer the crew a whole new level of support. The CSH can adapt to fill any role that is required of it due to its multitude of built-in specialist sub-routines, such as an Emergency Command sub-routine or even the Emergency Security & Tactical sub-routine, but it mostly serves as a more direct link for the crew to the computer and other monitoring tasks.

Stevenson weaved his way through main engineering, dodging both people and equipment until he finally reached the master systems table situated in the middle of the open space. Once there, Morgan gently placed the large, bulky black case he had been carrying down, the case contained everything he would need to install the CSH and also all the tools needed to keep it running or remove it completely if needed. After taking a few seconds to rest, the CSH's case was rather heavy, Stevenson looked around the room trying to catch the eye of the person he needed to speak to, Commander Kamar the commanding officer of the Pennsylvania.

Kamar seemed to be wandering around the Engineering space getting a good look at all the work being done to his ship when he came close, Stevenson called out to him "Excuse me, Commander Kamar, can I have a moment of your time?" while indicating to the case next to him.

Frank had been walking through engineering checking over the refit crew when an enlisted man called to him. Taking note of the collar devices he spoke,” What can I do for you Petty Officer?” He was on a tight schedule with several meetings ahead of him, though if he were, to be honest with himself he was secretly here to catch a glimpse of Arianna.

After briefly shaking Kamar's hand, Stevenson replied "Good Morning sir, I am the Engineering specialist that has been sent to install the new Command & Support Hologram as ordered by Starfleet' he said looking towards the case next to him "Also, I have been transferred aboard the Pennsylvania as one of the new Computer System specialists, that way I can be on hand if needed" Morgan added with a slight smile.

“You’re here for what?” Frank asked beginning to get angry, “Why do we need another hologram? We have a holodeck! We don’t need that thing here. Petty Officer, who authorized you to begin the installation? Have you spoken to my Chief Engineer or First Officer?”

=/\= Major Griffiths and Lieutenant Commander Sky meet me in Engineering now=/\=

With great care and deliberation, Stevenson replied "With respect Sir, I am here on the orders of Command, orders in which I assume you knew about. I am just the messenger and installation tech, the answers you seek are above my pay grade" he shrugged slightly, knowing full well how things get lost in the pipeline of command.

“ I’m an engineer Petty Officer Stevenson, I have reviewed and approved every modification to my ship. I guarantee you, that adding this thing to my ship was not in any of ship plans. Do you have a PADD that contains these orders?” Frank asked the man.

Stevenson nodded quickly "Yes sir, it's in the case along with everything else I require" He spun the black box around to the front, where a small control panel was housed "However, I need you to unlock it. As part of the security precautions for the CSH, this box can only be opened by yourself or Major Griffiths by using your command codes and thumbprints"

Frank took the box, and unlocked it with his thumbprint and command access codes.

[Bridge]

On the bridge Griffith's was watching the replacement Science Officer work their console, she was still trying to learn things when her Commbadge sounded =/\= Griffiths here, on my way, Griffiths out =/\= she signed off and excused herself from the bridge.

As she entered the turbo lift and the doors closed "Engineering" she said and the lift whisked her to her requested destination in a timely fashion, eventually stopping on the engineering level where the doors opened and she stepped out, she walked down the corridor and turned a corner and walked straight into Main Engineering.

[Engineering]

"Commander report?" she said to the Chief Engineer.

"Major it beats me. I just got the captain's request to report to him", Arianna said as she spotted him by the display. "There he is Major", she said pointing to the display where he was standing with another man.

Frank waited for the arrival of his First Officer and Chief Engineer. While he was waiting he took the box from the Petty Officer and signed up with his authentication. After opening the case he removed the Padd and began Reading through the orders, he realized that the orders were legitimate.

"Major, Lieutenant Commander Sky, it appears that Starfleet in all its wisdom has decided that we need a Hologram for our CoB. This Petty Officer here," Frank said while pointing to the man, "wants to install this core into our system. This is the first I've heard about this. The orders are contained on this Padd. I'd like you both to examine them and tell me your thoughts before we allow him to tamper with our computer core."

Naomi arrived in engineering to a shouting match, she looked back and forth at each other thinking oO I am back at basic training Oo she thought.

"They wanna do WHAT!!!! Oh, now just a damn minute......what the hell do we need a.......hologram on the bridge running the ship. This was approved by Starfleet?", Arianna said taking the PADD reading it. "I don't believe it........it is absolutely.......oh they have got to be kidding!", she said as the orders were genuine.

"Unfortunately I don't see where we have a choice, Lieutenant Commander. It appears that Starfleet is tying our hands," Frank replied. "I know you're already busy, but I want you to personally oversee this if anything happens to my ship I swear I'll pull that core out with my bare hands and send into space from the nearest porthole."

Stevenson just stood and watched the mini-meltdown in front of him and sighed internally, and Command said that Holograms are more accepted these days he thought to himself. Pushing that aside, Stevenson instead said "As I said, Captain, I am just the messenger in this scenario. The additional computer core was already installed and tested, now we just need to do the software side of things." He looked over to the case next to him before continuing "Also, I suggest the three of you remain here for a few moments, I need to go over what else is in this case and the special orders for the case itself, if you don't mind that is"

Arianna nearly passed out......."They WHAT????? Oh, your kidding......the bloody thing was already installed????", she growled! Arianna was seething at this point. "Why wasn't I told about this before we left Starbase?", she said through gritted teeth.

Turning to face the enraged Chief Engineer, Stevenson held up his hands and attempted to address her concerns "Again Commander, I am just the install tech. I would have thought you would have been briefed on the details by now, but I suppose Command can be a little slow with sending out the memo's" he said with a wan smile.

“I guess we have no choice, the Orders are clear. Proceed with the install, but I want duplicate copies of whatever manuals come with this thing,” Frank planned on reviewing the data to see how exactly the core integrated with the other systems.

Stevenson nodded "Of course Sir. All the details can be found on that PaDD" He said, pointing at the device in Kamar's hand "However, we won't be able to copy the data on there. Also on that PaDD are several command codes that will deactivate various functions of the CSH, as a result, we can't allow it to be uploaded to the main computer core. That PaDD has been specially designed to be non-networked and can't remotely connect to the computer, instead it has to be manually connected via this port" Morgan pointed to the odd-looking connector on the side of the device, definitely a non-standard modification, it had two small holes at the top and a narrow rectangular slit underneath. "The round holes are for the Fibre-Optic connectors and the rectangular one is for isolinear chips, specifically these" he pulled open the case a little more and inside were 3 coloured isolinear chips, all 3 had an odd design to them with several indents and cutouts along the sides. "These chips will only work in the reader on that PaDD and can't be placed in any other reader, you mustn't lose them".

Firstly, Morgan pointed to a deep blue looking chip "This one will install the CSH program to it's dedicated core and it also contains a software patch that will allow that core and Pennyslvania's computer to interface together." Next, he pointed to a deep red chip "This one contains a fast-acting, aggressive virus that will remove all traces of the CSH from any computer. It will delete everything, so be careful with it" Finally, he pointed to a deep purple chip "I have been told that this one is only to be used in a dire emergency when all else has failed and the ship is about to explode..."

[OFF]