| Best Get To Work |
| Summary: | Master-At-Arms Barclay discuss the actions of Tuata with Chief Merrell and Staff Sgt Maraz |
| Date: | 12 Feb 2041 AE |
| Related Logs: | A Tangled Web, A Sea Without a Shore |
| Players: |
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Small Office - Security Hub - Battlestar Cerberus
This office is for the MaA. It is small and cramped with filing cabinets, a desc, couple chairs and that never-ending Marine Coffee Pot <tm>.
Things are starting to roll along. The area of danger is secured, now it's just the rest - coordinating so there's not a whole lot of chaos. Meeting Merrell in his cramped office is the new MaA - he's got his coffee mug on the desk and is typing in some reports or another mail message.
Marrell raps a few times on the door before stepping in. She looks to the man and nods, her short stature maybe seeming even a inch or two taller by the serious expression on her face and straight posture. "Sergeant. Chief Robin Merrell. Looks like Gabrieli has us working together. I wanted to come by and talk to you really fast." Her voice is clipped and serious but it doesn't hide the Taurian accent.
Barclay stands up as Merrell enters. "Chief," he greets her, nodding. He gestures at the chair in front of his desk - it's cramped space in here but he's put one simple chair in. "Yes, and there's really no time to waste - I can't trust the prisoner's word, that there's no bomb or similar. Either case, it's a breach of security," he notes grimly. His own accent is very typical Aerilon. "I'll send a team with demolition experts with you, and fully intend to be there myself barring unforseen things." He raises an eyebrow. "But - you have another issue?"
Merrell drops into the chair with a gust of breath blown out between her lips as if she deflated a little. "I was able to watch the video you provided. That..What she's saying is pretty disturbing. The blood and life of the ship is one of two things, Sergeant. The first option is oil - which burns but doesn't explode though the vapors can get explosive under pressure. We have a few areas like that but they require more than thirteen minutes to get to and she would have been coated in the crap. The other and far blood-freezing potential is Tylium. If she got to our Tylium storage tanks with a bomb, this ship would explode like a forty megaton nuclear weapon. As for the teams and yourself, by all means. I'll take any single hand I can get down there."
"I'm not the expert on that, so I'll take your word for it," the calm MaA replies. He's not working himself up. Sitting down, he pours coffee for her, shooting the mug over. "I'm not sure there is a bomb. She might just be a crazy religious fanatic who thinks the world is going to go under. Probably need a good psych eval," he notes dryly. "Now - could she have reached an area like that in thirteen minutes? If she could've reached the tanks, then…" He frowns, not finishing that thought, it's already been pointed out anyway. "I'll leave those details to engineering, to sort out /where/ she could've crawled to in that short of time. Meanwhile, I'll clue in the team."
Merrell takes the coffee and downs probably a quarter of it in one go. She's probably long burnt away most of the nerve endings with chugging hot coffee. "There may or may not be a bomb. Its true. But I plan for worst scenarios because 'hope' isn't a plan. Now, I'm organizing teams as we speak. If you can get me maybe two or three demolitions experts minimum, they should be able to respond pretty quickly inside that section if or when we find anything. As for where she could reach?" The SCPO shrugs a single shoulder. "I've been on two Battlestars before this one, Sergeant. Both had different Engineering set-ups. The systems all function the same but the difference is in the details and I'm still learning this ship. Access paneling, ports, tunnels..all this is what I'm looking at. I've got four Petty Officers pouring over schematics right now and looking for likely areas. But I won't lie. Thirteen minutes is a long time."
Barclay is now rifling through papers on his desk - he finds a folder and opens it. "There's Staff Sergeant Reuben Yusef Maraz. I'll put him in charge of the group." He stands up and moves out of the office long enough to call for Reuben to join. "I'll let him pick out a team of three more and he'll be working with you. I just called him in so you can start working together right away. Is there anything else, Chief? Any other requests?"
It doesn't take long before the tall Sagittaron comes sauntering in through the door. Well, sauntering isn't quite right. It's more or less that usual marine swagger, that turns quickly into a clip upon hitting the MaA's office doorway. A nod is given to the Master Sergeant, before he's looking towards Merrell. Ahh snipes, those one can pick out as easily as pilots. "You wanted to see me, Master Sergeant?" comes that deep accented voice. Yup clearly from Sagittaron, as if the soma braid on his wrist would not give him away. Though he got the memo, he will wait for further confirmation. And well, this is better than chilling out by the doorway, or sitting infront of a screen all day.
"No, that should work well Sergeant. Thank you. I'll have teams with X-Ray scanners combing over the section." Merrell is one hundred percent business today. With his last question she looks pointedly to the MaA. "We'll be looking. What kind of read did you get off this woman? You think she's full of it? Or do you think she's actually managed to smuggle a bomb on board and into one of my spaces? Or even build one?" When Reuben enters, the SCPO hears teh man's accent and smirks up at him. "Staff Sergeant," she greets with a simple nod.
"Staff sergeant," Barclay says, nodding in a friendly manner at the man. He's from Aerilon himself and though his accent has been washed out over the years, from having spent very little time on his home-planet, it's still distinct enough to label him as from that world. "You got the memo about our prisoner? She spent 13 minutes in an area of the ship, unseen of the cameras. Returned into view with dirty hands. Claims she's written a message from the Gods somewhere - with the blood of the ship. I'm putting you in charge of a small demolitions team - you'll be working with Chief Merrell from Engineering here. Miss Tuata, the prisoner, claims there is no bomb, but there could be something else. Can't take any chances - she could've done a lot of damage in 13 minutes, as the chief says." He looks to Merrell, his expression thoughtful. "I think she is a very disillusioned woman who is fighting for her religious rights. To be honest, I think she's more likely just very desperate to make herself heard in some way. I do hope that is not by making a big bang."
There's a screwing up of the Staff Sergeant's face as eyes focus in on Barclay. Apparently that's something he's going to have to work on a few things with his fellow MP's, but still that is neither here or there. "And she was not picked up by a roving patrol between then or there?" nor was she seen. No, Rube doesn't like it. Still eyes look back down to Merrell, and he is nodding. "Of course, We'll figure out what we can find Chief." IE he'll sweep with his people and her people, and won't touch anything..unless it looks like it's going to explode. "I'll see if we can't find any Demo Experts from Charlie.." he says for Barclay's part. Never hurts to have other people on this besides their own. As for the religious part, the Staff Sergeant raises a brow. "Where is Miss Tuata from, if I may ask?" As if that would help.
"As I told the Master at Arms, Staff Sergeant, the blood of this ship could be two likely things: oil or Tylium. One is only explosive under pressure. Otherwise it just burns. Tylium, as you probably know, is just a bit more volatile." Understatement of the Year. "Nobody spotted her until myself and a Petty Officer stopped her to question her. When her story got shot full of holes, I called a detail down there and had her taken into custody." She looks back towards Barclay, then: "Well here's the problem. If this wanna-be-heard religious girl did in fact reprogram our backup reactor like she claims to…and I haven't seen the tapes from that room yet…that means she's pretty damned smart. Savant level, potentially, considering her age. She could have written a 'message in blood' in code or anything else down there in our systems. The scariest part? It could take weeks to find it if she did. And it could do anything in the meantime."
"She's from Gemenon." Which might explain a few things. Barclay says that with level-headed calmness however. "Right. She could've done anything - but I'm personally a bit loathe to theorize. She said she used the dirt and grime of the ship to write it and her dirty hands suggest that she might have. The message is a one-simple word - 'Fly'." He puts down the folder he was holding, pours coffee for Reuben - as Merrell already has gotten some - and hands the cup over. "And yes. Tuata is not stupid. She's a scientist," he notes with a wry smile. "But, look over the tapes, please. I might have missed something important. However, we're on order to keep all this discrete. Don't want it leaked to the press."
Reuben nods back, as he takes in the information from the Chief. Either way he'll make sure to get a few more patrols go through Engineering, at least beyond what they normally have. Hand moves as he takes the cup of coffee from Barclay and gives a nod over with a quiet, muttered, thanks. "I'll skim over it. And will have Pvt Morris aide my eyes." In case for some reason he missed something or will miss anything. Though if it was done where Camera's can't catch her, it will make it a bit hard. "Did we get anything off of her hands? Tell what she used to write in?" given that her hands were dirty, it could just be oil, or tylium…or both which is not good. As for keeping it discrete, Maraz nods. "Da.." added in a quick acceptance. None will leak, and if reporters find out…he'll keep em quiet.
"Gemenon.." a shake of his head "There's another reason to never trust the Gemenese, beyond the scrolls." and he would argue that's debatable as well. "If she is writing to the gods, do you think that she might to to make it something bright like a pyre to catch their eyes…Just supposing. Whether or not there's no bomb…or" Well he won't push. And with that Reuben takes another slug of his coffee.
"Well her hands were mostly just covered in sweat and some minor grime. It didn't look like she was playing with fingerpaints. So that might indicate some mechanical work on her part. She kept trying to wipe her hands on her clothes, though, so she might have wiped most of that junk off." Merrell drains another big gulp of the coffee and looks to the desk that the MaA is sitting behind. "Yeah I'll grab those tapes on the double. But why do I get the idea we're going to leave drydock without getting to the bottom of this?" Merrell mutters to herself. She listens to Reuben and something seems to occur to her. "Oh Hell. Fly? If she mucked with the FTL, that's not a good sign. She could jump us into a singularity, star, or twenty jumps over the Arm Line. Wonderful. Okay, that's another system to check." She rises out of the chair and lets out a long sigh. "We should be set to begin pretty soon. I'll coordinate through you, Master Sergeant."
"And look at the interrogation tapes too, Staff Sergeant," Barclay nods at Reuben. The more eyes the better. The more ears, too. He's not perfect and might very well miss important hints. "Alright - we got things going, and the area is shut off, power rerouted and all that. Afraid we got nothing off her hands - at the time, I believe the worry was she'd messed with some code, and not with anything physical per se. Might still be some on her clothes however, I'll look into it. But - just looking at the area might be enough to determine /where/ she was. Might've left dirt prints on a wall or similar." He sips his own coffee, smiling at the two - he exudes confident calmness, he does. Like he has full trust in them and this ship. "To be honest? I got the feeling she was more out to warn us than to get us all killed. But - no chances taken." Setting his cup down, he looks at the two. "Guess we're sorted. We best get to work."
"Da, Master Sergeant. I'll give it a three times over. Make sure I don't miss a frak, or shit." A nod given over the lip of his mug, before he's draining down a few more sips of coffee. "Get whatever she had on unless you think it could be contaminated by now.." Always worth a shot. Still it seems he and the MaA are on the same page. Good for Reuben, and with that he's cursing silently back into his mug before another nod is given out, before he is turning to make for the door again. "Warning or not. She's cracked. Anyway, Master Sergeant I'll be reviewing the tapes and getting a team together, as I can. When we're good, we'll hit Engineering." IE when Merrell is okay with the jarheads invading her turf.
Barclay sits back down. Refills his coffee. Then starts cranking out more of those reports and messages…