/\ Main Engineering /\ "How's she doing" Sean said dryly into into his commbadge. Quayle answered first. "No news here. Systems are running at peak efficiency, no overheating, no EPS bursts, no unusual EM fields forming. It's as odd as it can be, Chief". "Acknowledged, keep an eye on everything. What about you, Rick?" he continued. "Everything looks fine here. We've checked primary functions and encountered no problems so far. The Basic Information modules seemed to be protected with Command level code encryptions though, we haven't checked that yet." Rodgers informed. "Patch through with Guzman, I'll enter my part of the codes from up here, shouldn't take more than five minutes. Tell that XO that it's authorized and necessary. If he makes any trouble, let me know. McTaggert out." Sean finalized the transmission and climbed onto one of the holding beams of the upper contention chamber. "Right Axa, give me that tricorder" he shouted down, while the Trill threw the tool over to him. Sean scanned the EM fields and nodded. "Yep, everything's PG here. Goddammit" he muttered and climbed back down. "Allright, continue the diags and let me know if you find anything fishy. Have an eye on those Plasma peaks, if you see any of those going over the threshold, get ready to vent the excess off through the buzzard collectors." he instructed her. Axa nodded patiently and stepped to the console. Sean went to the Main Display and entered his Security Codes to give Rick free access to the Cores most protected area. /\ Fifteen minutes later /\ "Sir, Command orders us to break off the Diagnostics." informed an Ensign. Sean swore under his breath. "What the hell is it now?" he barked angrily, then he tapped his commbadge. "May I request why in Scotts name we have to pospone our work... again?" he asked illhumoured. "XO's orders" replied the voice of Lt. Foster. "Trust me, Lt. McTaggert, I'm not happy with it either" "Aye, at least one voice of reason up there." answered Sean dryly. "Can you do me a favour and tell them to step out of the airlock without EVA suits?" he added. "Just kidding. Breaking off Diags, let me know when we are able to continue, meanwhile, we'll have a tea party down here. That's pretty much all we seem to be allowed to do these days. McTaggert out." Sean closed the transmission and called Rick and Quayle back to Main Engineering. "Sir" came Ricks voice through the comm. "We shouldn't stop now. There's something weird in the Basic Command Modules, and I can't figure it out yet." Sean's skin tingled. That was it. He knew it all along, somebody *had* tampered with his ship, and there was the prove. Goddamn General up there, why did he stop the diags at that precise moment? What was going on? "Rick." he said slowly into his badge. "Record what you got so far, close the module, allow access only with my code. Get back up here, we'll find out what's going on, whether those bastards want it or not. McTaggert out." For the first time in days, he smiled. But it wasn't a happy smile. Suddenly, the ships comms erupted. "Commander Guzman speaking. In a minute we will enter the Spinward march. Our mission is to find the missing Gott and rescue what is to rescue from her or her crew. The march is a dangerous place and I expect anyone to act with proffesionalism and confidence. Prepare for flight turbulences and possible shakes. Guzman out." Sean swore. They would go into that bloody swamp with god knew what hidden in their systems. Too dangerous, too irresponsible, too everything. Something snapped inside him. He tapped his badge and started. "Listen, you goddamn idiots up there, we can't just waltz into the march without knowing what's going on. What the hell did you shit-for-brains think here. Are you just that dumb and stupid, or is it that you don't give a shrivelling hoot for the rest of the crew and have a collective suicidal wish? Do you think she will hold? I tell you pathetic freaks what's going to happen. You are taking us straight to our goddamn graves, just because you have delusions of grandieur. If it was up to me, I'd have the both of you shot and thrown out to rot in your precious march. Maybe you are lucky and a temporal rift revives you, so I can shoot you wankers again. Now why don't you take that bloody stick that's up your arses and let us do our job? FYI, there's something stuck in the Computer and that's probably something you didn't want us to see, right? But WE DID; AND YOU, YOU ARE FUCKED!" Sean closed the communication and felt angry, but very satisfied. ======RELOADED========= Suddenly, the ships comms erupted. "Commander Guzman speaking. In a minute we will enter the Spinward march. Our mission is to find the missing Gott and rescue what is to rescue from her or her crew. The march is a dangerous place and I expect anyone to act with proffesionalism and confidence. Prepare for flight turbulences and possible shakes. Guzman out." Sean swore under his breath. He would've loved to tell them what he thought of that plan, but instead he turned to the crew. "Allright everyone, lets get ready for everything. This is the first test on those blasted shields and I don't think that 100% will hold any longer." With a grim expression, he faced the main console. Inside, he felt strangely satisfied. --------------------------------------- Lt. Sean McTaggert A/CEO (npc) USS Chimera