Messages

"It seems to me," adds Chev, "that the best course of action might be to not mention it at all, and to talk around it if it comes up in conversation. To be purposefully obtuse, you might say. That way we're making it clear that we're aware that the subject is completely off the table, and we're making no attempt to say otherwise."

"Any chance we can get some insight as to what this 'Trill secrecy' is related to?" asks Chev, fishing for any leverage they might be able to obtain before going into discussions.

Chev met Voshen's look, miming wiping sweat from his brow with a lopsided grin. It's still too hot, but at least it's not Vulcan, he thought to himself. If missions continued along this path, he calculated that in five more he'd be on a planet with temperatures he considered to be actually pleasant.

"I'm happy to partner with Lt. de Costaluna," he offered, "seeing as how he's my direct superior in Communications, unless you'd rather split us up." He and Miguel had spent several post-ship evenings together playing word games; Chev had been very impressed that the Lieutenant had invited one of his own combining triangles with language symbols on them that were placed next to each other to try to make sentences, with extra points awarded if you could incorporate more than one language. He had been most put out when Chev had set down a series that said "Follow the yellow brick road" through Terran English, Klingon, Andorian, and one symbol in Breen that Miguel insisted meant "corn."

[This dice roll has been tampered with!]

OOC: Sorry for the delay!

Current Reputation: 10

Reputation Roll - Roll 2d20 vs Difficulty 1

This dice roll has been tampered with!
Rolled 2d20 : 8, 4, total 12

More OOC: Dice roll hasn't been tampered with, edited to fix the font color.

"No, I don't do much in the way of astrometrics. I spend most of my time in the Astronomy lab, when I'm not at the library computer station on the bridge," Thadis admits. "I'm one of the crew who transferred over from the old Drake - second senior bridge watchstander; Lt. Hodgkin is an anthropologist, so he generally doesn't work the library computer.

"How about you? Are you a xenoliguist or a technical specialist?"

"Astronomy!" replies Chev, slapping the back of his left hand into the palm of his right. "I knew it had something to do with the stars. "Yes, xenolinguistics. I also studied philosophy and anthropology, but mainly as background to how they effect languages from place to place and time to time. Funny you should mention ushaan; I'm trained as well; my Ushaan-tor is back on the ship. Maybe we could do some sparring some time!"

"You know, I've always wondered why our cold world bred such a warm and passionate people, yet a warm world like Vulcan would breed such cold people. I'll be glad to see it on our departure angle."

"In that, we are in agreement, Lieutenant," replies Chev with a smirk. "Have you done much astronavigating since joining the crew, sir? Seems like Vulcan's not much of a place to break new ground."

Lt. Thadis find Chev just as he exits the courtyard.

"I heard we picked up a new Andorian. Ensign ch'Valk, right?" he asks. "Thadis keth Dra. Where does your clan call home?"

"Lt. Dra from...Astrophysics? Sorry, I'm still learning names and assignments. Th'irichev Echib ch'Valk," replies the ensign. "Nice to meet another Andorian, especially after--" he waves his hand to take in their surroundings, "--all this. I can't wait to get back to the ship; I don't think I've ever needed a working air cooling unit and a humidity level above 24% more in my life. Once we get back to the ship I may walk directly into the backup food cooling unit and just sit for a little while." He smils ruefully and shakes his head. "Not to mention being ready to forget all about Vulcan philosophical and religious strife. For a people who project so much self-control, when they snap, they snap loudly, don't they? Anyway. I'm from Lor'Tan. A city boy, born and raised. We lived about 20 minutes from the Atlin Zoological Park, if you're familiar. How about you?"

Ensign Ch'valk curiously regards the call device. "Can we take it with us?" he asks the senior officers. "I shouldn't think it would take long for Engineering to do a complete reverse-engineer of it." He looks around. "Never know, might come in handy!"

OOC: Nothing more from me!

[Chev will roll Reason + Science (basic principles) against a TN of 14 to assist.]

Chev will roll Reason + Science (basic principles) against a TN of 14 to assist.

Rolled 2d20 : 2, 9, total 11

The first officer's eyebrow raises a scant millimeter, as the opposite corner of his mouth curls upward by a similar amount. "Perhaps it would be useful for you to contemplate an allegory. Say that a suspected serial murderer has a scan-resistant miniaturized data wafer surgically implanted deep in their body, near or affixed to one or more vital organs, and on that wafer is what you believe to be detail about their motives and other evidence of criminal activity; however, you cannot retrieve the information stored on that wafer without physically removing it from the body.

"At what point do you consider it allowable to forcibly remove that device without a warrant or the suspect's explicit permission?"

Chev ponders the question for a moment before responding: "I would first offer the suspect an opportunity to explain why they have a data wafer implanted near a vital organ. Assuming time is of the essence, since, per your example, a warrant can't be obtained, if the suspect could not provide an adequate explanation, I would beam them from one secure area to another, using the transporter to remove anything non-organic that was not inherent to the suspect's initial buffer pattern."

The Andorian holds up a forestalling hand. "Before you go on about basic civil rights, I'd ask you to consider who implants data wafers in their bodies? It's unlikely that they contain vacation holos or music files, sir. Even you must admit that."

"For many reasons, Ensign," the voice of Sorak responds as the first officer enters the room. "First, it is no magical truth serum - we have no guarantee that anything we could glean from a meld is true, or necessarily that the subject thinks it is true. Individuals trained in psionic techniques can be quite resistant to mental intrusions.

"Second, it is an invasion of privacy that goes far beyond even a warrantless search. Forceful parsing of information from another mind is a form of torture, and can be quite painful and disquieting; Vulcan law places many restrictions on mind melds as interrogation for just that reason.

"Third, it is an incredibly intimate action. All participants will experience what the others are feeling, including the pain and disquiet of forceful information gathering. It is something that should never be done routinely, even by the strongest and most-experienced practitioners. I would argue our circumstances are nowhere near dire enough to warrant such an intrusion on the suspect's rights."

"One might argue that murder is sufficient justification for lifting relevant data from a suspect's mind," countered Chev, "but I'm here as an observer, and I guess as a student." His tone was flat and as devoid of emotion as any Vulcan's; his gift of languages had given him the ability to shade his voice to match the language, sometimes even the dialect. He'd give nothing of himself away to Sorak.

The Andorian ensign shrugs. "There's little for me to contribute in there either, unless he starts speaking in tongues, and even then I can work from here." He glares at Kavoran through the monitor, as if willing the Vulcan to acknowledge him. He snorts quietly and mutters a word beneath his breath as if it's a curse: "Vulcans." in a louder voice, he asks, "Captain, why not just mind meld with him? If he's innocent he should have nothing to hide."

OOC: I see no reason to hurry, given that Spunkmeyer is stabilized. Makes sense to me to get him an advocate and interrogate him back at the ship.

OOC: I agree with the agreement, but can we leave the shuttle running just in case we need to make a fast escape, and also to keep the intakes from getting jammed again?

The Andorian ensign looks down at the prisoner, cocking his head slightly to one side before saying in Vulcan, "I too wonder what logic drove you to this action. I am not being facetious, I truly do wonder. I have never known a Vulcan to act out of haste, or impulse, or passion, so surely there must be a reason for your actions. Is it a good one?"

Watching the more experienced crew is a learning experience for the Andorian ensign, one he is taking full advantage of. With no set task before him, Chev is content to observe (OOC: Playing off that "Shuns the Limelight" Value).

Still, he wishes to remain active on the scene, so he keeps his phaser trained on the team's captured suspect (OOC: Playing off that "Never Trust a Vulcan" Value).