Lilly/Taylor/Marlo/Lars/Gabe/Marissa/Alyssa/Reius/Kalen - Senior Officer Betazed Briefing

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."


<Taggles: Lars and Anyone>

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."


<Tag: All, this should get interesting. Just bear with me, busy day tomorrow >

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."


<Taggles: Everyone. (Don't worry about it, I work tomorrow too. )>

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."


Tags: Everyone

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognised. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a grey uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

TAG: Everyone (especially Lars)

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

(Hugs for tags and tags for all)

|||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thrity-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…."

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Tag: All!

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thrity-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…."

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are-" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

<Tag>

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thirty-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…"

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are--" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

"Stop it, both of you," Lillian said suddenly as she rose from the table and made it over to the two men, standing in between them.

In all reality they could take her easily--especially pregnant--even though she did have those psionic abilities of hers at her disposal. There was a time and a place for this, however, and this was not it. Lillian had no doubts in her mind that whatever respect that Captain Wierzbowski had for her was gone now considering how her MCO was acting. While Lillian got their past, no one else in the room did except for Marlo and Gabe a little bit.

"You, sit right there," Lillian told Taylor, pointing to the chair next to her, and then she looked at Lars and pointed to a chair across the table from Taylor. "You, sit there. I don't want any lip from either of you. This is about Betazed. There is a time and a place to talk to each other about this and believe me, I will be making both of you have that talk after this because I will not let Betazed fall because you two can't be in the same place together. What happened sucked and it shouldn't have happened, but right now we do not have the time to dwell on it."

Lillian took Taylor's hand that had been poking Lars in the chest and held it, letting their finger interlace even though that wasn't professional either. It was just that she needed to calm him down and she needed everyone to take a seat that hadn't sat down and she needed everyone to get to business. Lars and Taylor would talk about this later--she would force them to work it out if it was the last thing that she did.


<Taggles>

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thirty-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…"

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are--" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

"Stop it, both of you," Lillian said suddenly as she rose from the table and made it over to the two men, standing in between them.

In all reality they could take her easily--especially pregnant--even though she did have those psionic abilities of hers at her disposal. There was a time and a place for this, however, and this was not it. Lillian had no doubts in her mind that whatever respect that Captain Wierzbowski had for her was gone now considering how her MCO was acting. While Lillian got their past, no one else in the room did except for Marlo and Gabe a little bit.

"You, sit right there," Lillian told Taylor, pointing to the chair next to her, and then she looked at Lars and pointed to a chair across the table from Taylor. "You, sit there. I don't want any lip from either of you. This is about Betazed. There is a time and a place to talk to each other about this and believe me, I will be making both of you have that talk after this because I will not let Betazed fall because you two can't be in the same place together. What happened sucked and it shouldn't have happened, but right now we do not have the time to dwell on it."

Lillian took Taylor's hand that had been poking Lars in the chest and held it, letting their finger interlace even though that wasn't professional either. It was just that she needed to calm him down and she needed everyone to take a seat that hadn't sat down and she needed everyone to get to business. Lars and Taylor would talk about this later--she would force them to work it out if it was the last thing that she did.


Just for one moment Taylor thought of saying something but it was lost between a feeling of rage and the newly introduced peace that Lillian had introduced by her presence and touch. His nostrils flared but he nodded slowly. Instead of offering a rebuke Taylor just 'yes ma'am'ed in a rather defeated tone before sitting down and taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down. Yes, they would talk but not now...now was the time to prove Lars wrong.

"Captains, I apologise for my nature and can assure you it will not compromise our resolve in dealing with this situation. However if I may make a request to Captain Crae; if any intelligence uplink was to be used that its operator would be Ensign Pena. Lieutenant Commander Janssen may be too busy to offer his assistance with any strike force that I may have to command to deal with the second bomb sight."

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thirty-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…"

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are--" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

"Stop it, both of you," Lillian said suddenly as she rose from the table and made it over to the two men, standing in between them.

In all reality they could take her easily--especially pregnant--even though she did have those psionic abilities of hers at her disposal. There was a time and a place for this, however, and this was not it. Lillian had no doubts in her mind that whatever respect that Captain Wierzbowski had for her was gone now considering how her MCO was acting. While Lillian got their past, no one else in the room did except for Marlo and Gabe a little bit.

"You, sit right there," Lillian told Taylor, pointing to the chair next to her, and then she looked at Lars and pointed to a chair across the table from Taylor. "You, sit there. I don't want any lip from either of you. This is about Betazed. There is a time and a place to talk to each other about this and believe me, I will be making both of you have that talk after this because I will not let Betazed fall because you two can't be in the same place together. What happened sucked and it shouldn't have happened, but right now we do not have the time to dwell on it."

Lillian took Taylor's hand that had been poking Lars in the chest and held it, letting their finger interlace even though that wasn't professional either. It was just that she needed to calm him down and she needed everyone to take a seat that hadn't sat down and she needed everyone to get to business. Lars and Taylor would talk about this later--she would force them to work it out if it was the last thing that she did.

Just for one moment Taylor thought of saying something but it was lost between a feeling of rage and the newly introduced peace that Lillian had introduced by her presence and touch. His nostrils flared but he nodded slowly. Instead of offering a rebuke Taylor just 'yes ma'am'ed in a rather defeated tone before sitting down and taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down. Yes, they would talk but not now...now was the time to prove Lars wrong.

"Captains, I apologise for my nature and can assure you it will not compromise our resolve in dealing with this situation. However if I may make a request to Captain Crae; if any intelligence uplink was to be used that its operator would be Ensign Pena. Lieutenant Commander Janssen may be too busy to offer his assistance with any strike force that I may have to command to deal with the second bomb sight."

When Lillian separated them, Lars grinned a sly grin. "Yes of course, ma'am," he said enthusiastically and made his way to the indicated chair. "You're right, after all. This is about the crisis on Betazed," he intoned loftily. As he sat, though, Lars gave the assembled officers a little shrug and a knowing smirk as if to say "Marines, what can you do?" and was sure that by the look of it, at least some of them agreed.

It seemed like everyone turned to look at him to see if he would have any objections to Taylor's request that Nayla handle the uplink, but instead Lars just nodded. "The colonel has an excellent idea there. I'd rather not spend my time fiddling with uplinks. I will actually be busy with assessing the overall situation, so if this ensign can handle the matter then by all means," he said with a casual wave of his hand. Magnanimous in victory as always, Lars old boy, he thought, and leaned back in his chair with a triumphant smile. Still, he made a mental note to check on this Ensign Pena to see if she was on the level.

"Right…well, unless there are any more personal matters to attend to, perhaps we could start this briefing someday," Captain Wierzbowski said gruffly, not the least bit amused by the little scene but more than a little intrigued by its causes.

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thirty-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…"

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are--" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

"Stop it, both of you," Lillian said suddenly as she rose from the table and made it over to the two men, standing in between them.

In all reality they could take her easily--especially pregnant--even though she did have those psionic abilities of hers at her disposal. There was a time and a place for this, however, and this was not it. Lillian had no doubts in her mind that whatever respect that Captain Wierzbowski had for her was gone now considering how her MCO was acting. While Lillian got their past, no one else in the room did except for Marlo and Gabe a little bit.

"You, sit right there," Lillian told Taylor, pointing to the chair next to her, and then she looked at Lars and pointed to a chair across the table from Taylor. "You, sit there. I don't want any lip from either of you. This is about Betazed. There is a time and a place to talk to each other about this and believe me, I will be making both of you have that talk after this because I will not let Betazed fall because you two can't be in the same place together. What happened sucked and it shouldn't have happened, but right now we do not have the time to dwell on it."

Lillian took Taylor's hand that had been poking Lars in the chest and held it, letting their finger interlace even though that wasn't professional either. It was just that she needed to calm him down and she needed everyone to take a seat that hadn't sat down and she needed everyone to get to business. Lars and Taylor would talk about this later--she would force them to work it out if it was the last thing that she did.

Just for one moment Taylor thought of saying something but it was lost between a feeling of rage and the newly introduced peace that Lillian had introduced by her presence and touch. His nostrils flared but he nodded slowly. Instead of offering a rebuke Taylor just 'yes ma'am'ed in a rather defeated tone before sitting down and taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down. Yes, they would talk but not now...now was the time to prove Lars wrong.

"Captains, I apologise for my nature and can assure you it will not compromise our resolve in dealing with this situation. However if I may make a request to Captain Crae; if any intelligence uplink was to be used that its operator would be Ensign Pena. Lieutenant Commander Janssen may be too busy to offer his assistance with any strike force that I may have to command to deal with the second bomb sight."

When Lillian separated them, Lars grinned a sly grin. "Yes of course, ma'am," he said enthusiastically and made his way to the indicated chair. "You're right, after all. This is about the crisis on Betazed," he intoned loftily. As he sat, though, Lars gave the assembled officers a little shrug and a knowing smirk as if to say "Marines, what can you do?" and was sure that by the look of it, at least some of them agreed.

It seemed like everyone turned to look at him to see if he would have any objections to Taylor's request that Nayla handle the uplink, but instead Lars just nodded. "The colonel has an excellent idea there. I'd rather not spend my time fiddling with uplinks. I will actually be busy with assessing the overall situation, so if this ensign can handle the matter then by all means," he said with a casual wave of his hand. Magnanimous in victory as always, Lars old boy, he thought, and leaned back in his chair with a triumphant smile. Still, he made a mental note to check on this Ensign Pena to see if she was on the level.

"Right…well, unless there are any more personal matters to attend to, perhaps we could start this briefing someday," Captain Wierzbowski said gruffly, not the least bit amused by the little scene but more than a little intrigued by its causes.

"Certainly sir." said Taylor formally before glaring at Lars in what could have been described as brutally murderous. If a look could raise or lower the room's temperature then the entire briefing would be wearing cold weather gear. I'll show you what marines can do you pompous little twat..... "Now before anyone suggests that some safety feature from some lab has accidentally failed and released a virus I suggest you scrub that now. This is an entirely hostile situation. Right now phasers are more useful than medical tricorders until the threat can be contained and eliminated. From primary reports a bomb was detonated carrying a pathogen used by the Cardassians to prevent telepaths gaining knowledge of their top secret facilities. First it restricts the use of such abilities before rendering those with them...well, dead. Symptoms include increase in thermal activity within the body, sweating, headaches before developing into immobilisation and death. Races that do not possess telepathy or empathy are simply not effected but I can't rule out that they could commute it to those that would be. I've recommended to Captain Crae that anyone within the area of operations should be in hard EVA suits or armour to prevent contamination."

Taylor took a small breath before continuing. One thing was for sure, he didn't like to repeat himself. "Medical and science would be best suited to the needed research to combat the virus and come up with numbers of contingency plans should attempts to locate the second bomb fail. From what we've gathered a threat has been made about a second device using an airborne variant of the virus. We can't call their bluff in case it turns out to be genuine. Right now no demands have been made yet and the location has yet to be determined. Once we find it, it goes without saying; we need to be aggressive and precise in disarming it and disabling its creators."

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thirty-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…"

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are--" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

"Stop it, both of you," Lillian said suddenly as she rose from the table and made it over to the two men, standing in between them.

In all reality they could take her easily--especially pregnant--even though she did have those psionic abilities of hers at her disposal. There was a time and a place for this, however, and this was not it. Lillian had no doubts in her mind that whatever respect that Captain Wierzbowski had for her was gone now considering how her MCO was acting. While Lillian got their past, no one else in the room did except for Marlo and Gabe a little bit.

"You, sit right there," Lillian told Taylor, pointing to the chair next to her, and then she looked at Lars and pointed to a chair across the table from Taylor. "You, sit there. I don't want any lip from either of you. This is about Betazed. There is a time and a place to talk to each other about this and believe me, I will be making both of you have that talk after this because I will not let Betazed fall because you two can't be in the same place together. What happened sucked and it shouldn't have happened, but right now we do not have the time to dwell on it."

Lillian took Taylor's hand that had been poking Lars in the chest and held it, letting their finger interlace even though that wasn't professional either. It was just that she needed to calm him down and she needed everyone to take a seat that hadn't sat down and she needed everyone to get to business. Lars and Taylor would talk about this later--she would force them to work it out if it was the last thing that she did.

Just for one moment Taylor thought of saying something but it was lost between a feeling of rage and the newly introduced peace that Lillian had introduced by her presence and touch. His nostrils flared but he nodded slowly. Instead of offering a rebuke Taylor just 'yes ma'am'ed in a rather defeated tone before sitting down and taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down. Yes, they would talk but not now...now was the time to prove Lars wrong.

"Captains, I apologize for my nature and can assure you it will not compromise our resolve in dealing with this situation. However if I may make a request to Captain Crae; if any intelligence uplink was to be used that its operator would be Ensign Pena. Lieutenant Commander Janssen may be too busy to offer his assistance with any strike force that I may have to command to deal with the second bomb sight."

When Lillian separated them, Lars grinned a sly grin. "Yes of course, ma'am," he said enthusiastically and made his way to the indicated chair. "You're right, after all. This is about the crisis on Betazed," he intoned loftily. As he sat, though, Lars gave the assembled officers a little shrug and a knowing smirk as if to say "Marines, what can you do?" and was sure that by the look of it, at least some of them agreed.

It seemed like everyone turned to look at him to see if he would have any objections to Taylor's request that Nayla handle the uplink, but instead Lars just nodded. "The colonel has an excellent idea there. I'd rather not spend my time fiddling with uplinks. I will actually be busy with assessing the overall situation, so if this ensign can handle the matter then by all means," he said with a casual wave of his hand. Magnanimous in victory as always, Lars old boy, he thought, and leaned back in his chair with a triumphant smile. Still, he made a mental note to check on this Ensign Pena to see if she was on the level.

"Both of you, shut up!" Marlo commanded. "I'm sick of your testosterone battle! The two of you will only speak if you have something useful to say that has to do with the current mission. That's an order."

"Right…well, unless there are any more personal matters to attend to, perhaps we could start this briefing someday," Captain Wierzbowski said gruffly, not the least bit amused by the little scene but more than a little intrigued by its causes.

"Certainly sir." said Taylor formally before glaring at Lars in what could have been described as brutally murderous. If a look could raise or lower the room's temperature then the entire briefing would be wearing cold weather gear. I'll show you what marines can do you pompous little twat..... "Now before anyone suggests that some safety feature from some lab has accidentally failed and released a virus I suggest you scrub that now. This is an entirely hostile situation. Right now phasers are more useful than medical tricorders until the threat can be contained and eliminated. From primary reports a bomb was detonated carrying a pathogen used by the Cardassians to prevent telepaths gaining knowledge of their top secret facilities. First it restricts the use of such abilities before rendering those with them...well, dead. Symptoms include increase in thermal activity within the body, sweating, headaches before developing into immobilization and death. Races that do not possess telepathy or empathy are simply not effected but I can't rule out that they could commute it to those that would be. I've recommended to Captain Crae that anyone within the area of operations should be in hard EVA suits or armor to prevent contamination."

Taylor took a small breath before continuing. One thing was for sure, he didn't like to repeat himself. "Medical and science would be best suited to the needed research to combat the virus and come up with numbers of contingency plans should attempts to locate the second bomb fail. From what we've gathered a threat has been made about a second device using an airborne variant of the virus. We can't call their bluff in case it turns out to be genuine. Right now no demands have been made yet and the location has yet to be determined. Once we find it, it goes without saying; we need to be aggressive and precise in disarming it and disabling its creators."

"Full on has-mat suits is overkill, Mr. Lucas. We know the original virus targeted telepaths--however, I'm unsure if it could transmit to non telepaths--I haven't had much alone time with the original--and it was only transmitted through blood, so unless you're planning to perform a blood oath with someone who's infected..." Marlo trailed off, knowing she got her point across.

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thirty-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…"

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are--" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

"Stop it, both of you," Lillian said suddenly as she rose from the table and made it over to the two men, standing in between them.

In all reality they could take her easily--especially pregnant--even though she did have those psionic abilities of hers at her disposal. There was a time and a place for this, however, and this was not it. Lillian had no doubts in her mind that whatever respect that Captain Wierzbowski had for her was gone now considering how her MCO was acting. While Lillian got their past, no one else in the room did except for Marlo and Gabe a little bit.

"You, sit right there," Lillian told Taylor, pointing to the chair next to her, and then she looked at Lars and pointed to a chair across the table from Taylor. "You, sit there. I don't want any lip from either of you. This is about Betazed. There is a time and a place to talk to each other about this and believe me, I will be making both of you have that talk after this because I will not let Betazed fall because you two can't be in the same place together. What happened sucked and it shouldn't have happened, but right now we do not have the time to dwell on it."

Lillian took Taylor's hand that had been poking Lars in the chest and held it, letting their finger interlace even though that wasn't professional either. It was just that she needed to calm him down and she needed everyone to take a seat that hadn't sat down and she needed everyone to get to business. Lars and Taylor would talk about this later--she would force them to work it out if it was the last thing that she did.

Just for one moment Taylor thought of saying something but it was lost between a feeling of rage and the newly introduced peace that Lillian had introduced by her presence and touch. His nostrils flared but he nodded slowly. Instead of offering a rebuke Taylor just 'yes ma'am'ed in a rather defeated tone before sitting down and taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down. Yes, they would talk but not now...now was the time to prove Lars wrong.

"Captains, I apologize for my nature and can assure you it will not compromise our resolve in dealing with this situation. However if I may make a request to Captain Crae; if any intelligence uplink was to be used that its operator would be Ensign Pena. Lieutenant Commander Janssen may be too busy to offer his assistance with any strike force that I may have to command to deal with the second bomb sight."

When Lillian separated them, Lars grinned a sly grin. "Yes of course, ma'am," he said enthusiastically and made his way to the indicated chair. "You're right, after all. This is about the crisis on Betazed," he intoned loftily. As he sat, though, Lars gave the assembled officers a little shrug and a knowing smirk as if to say "Marines, what can you do?" and was sure that by the look of it, at least some of them agreed.

It seemed like everyone turned to look at him to see if he would have any objections to Taylor's request that Nayla handle the uplink, but instead Lars just nodded. "The colonel has an excellent idea there. I'd rather not spend my time fiddling with uplinks. I will actually be busy with assessing the overall situation, so if this ensign can handle the matter then by all means," he said with a casual wave of his hand. Magnanimous in victory as always, Lars old boy, he thought, and leaned back in his chair with a triumphant smile. Still, he made a mental note to check on this Ensign Pena to see if she was on the level.

"Both of you, shut up!" Marlo commanded. "I'm sick of your testosterone battle! The two of you will only speak if you have something useful to say that has to do with the current mission. That's an order."

"Right…well, unless there are any more personal matters to attend to, perhaps we could start this briefing someday," Captain Wierzbowski said gruffly, not the least bit amused by the little scene but more than a little intrigued by its causes.

"Certainly sir." said Taylor formally before glaring at Lars in what could have been described as brutally murderous. If a look could raise or lower the room's temperature then the entire briefing would be wearing cold weather gear. I'll show you what marines can do you pompous little twat..."Now before anyone suggests that some safety feature from some lab has accidentally failed and released a virus I suggest you scrub that now. This is an entirely hostile situation. Right now phasers are more useful than medical tricorders until the threat can be contained and eliminated. From primary reports a bomb was detonated carrying a pathogen used by the Cardassians to prevent telepaths gaining knowledge of their top secret facilities. First it restricts the use of such abilities before rendering those with them...well, dead. Symptoms include increase in thermal activity within the body, sweating, headaches before developing into immobilization and death. Races that do not possess telepathy or empathy are simply not effected but I can't rule out that they could commute it to those that would be. I've recommended to Captain Crae that anyone within the area of operations should be in hard EVA suits or armor to prevent contamination."

Taylor took a small breath before continuing. One thing was for sure, he didn't like to repeat himself. "Medical and science would be best suited to the needed research to combat the virus and come up with numbers of contingency plans should attempts to locate the second bomb fail. From what we've gathered a threat has been made about a second device using an airborne variant of the virus. We can't call their bluff in case it turns out to be genuine. Right now no demands have been made yet and the location has yet to be determined. Once we find it, it goes without saying; we need to be aggressive and precise in disarming it and disabling its creators."

"Full on has-mat suits is overkill, Mr. Lucas. We know the original virus targeted telepaths--however, I'm unsure if it could transmit to non telepaths--I haven't had much alone time with the original--and it was only transmitted through blood, so unless you're planning to perform a blood oath with someone who's infected..." Marlo trailed off, knowing she got her point across.

"I believe that a quarantine is definitely in order here, but the most important part is finding the bomb--Commander Sharpe is more than prepared to dismantle the bomb should we find it, and we must find it." Lillian explained, trying to figure out what she wanted to do next. "As to your request, Colonel Lucas, I believe you should leave the channel open for Ensign Pena and Lieutenant Cross as she is CIO and came to me with some of our information in the first place. What I want to know is what team members will be going down with the group that I am leading."

She had yet to tell Taylor that she was leading a group down at Captain Wierzbowski's suggestion. Lillian knew that Taylor wasn't going to be happy about it, but Lillian wanted to do her part in all of this and felt like she had to be part of the solution. Either way, she was a leader who liked to know her team and she wanted more than anything to get to know some of the people before they got in orbit of Betazed and beamed down.

"Commander Bakel will be on the bridge of the Fenris to keep me posted, and my Marines and my Engineers are ready, but Medical and Science are most important." Lillian said out loud.

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thirty-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…"

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are--" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

"Stop it, both of you," Lillian said suddenly as she rose from the table and made it over to the two men, standing in between them.

In all reality they could take her easily--especially pregnant--even though she did have those psionic abilities of hers at her disposal. There was a time and a place for this, however, and this was not it. Lillian had no doubts in her mind that whatever respect that Captain Wierzbowski had for her was gone now considering how her MCO was acting. While Lillian got their past, no one else in the room did except for Marlo and Gabe a little bit.

"You, sit right there," Lillian told Taylor, pointing to the chair next to her, and then she looked at Lars and pointed to a chair across the table from Taylor. "You, sit there. I don't want any lip from either of you. This is about Betazed. There is a time and a place to talk to each other about this and believe me, I will be making both of you have that talk after this because I will not let Betazed fall because you two can't be in the same place together. What happened sucked and it shouldn't have happened, but right now we do not have the time to dwell on it."

Lillian took Taylor's hand that had been poking Lars in the chest and held it, letting their finger interlace even though that wasn't professional either. It was just that she needed to calm him down and she needed everyone to take a seat that hadn't sat down and she needed everyone to get to business. Lars and Taylor would talk about this later--she would force them to work it out if it was the last thing that she did.

Just for one moment Taylor thought of saying something but it was lost between a feeling of rage and the newly introduced peace that Lillian had introduced by her presence and touch. His nostrils flared but he nodded slowly. Instead of offering a rebuke Taylor just 'yes ma'am'ed in a rather defeated tone before sitting down and taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down. Yes, they would talk but not now...now was the time to prove Lars wrong.

"Captains, I apologize for my nature and can assure you it will not compromise our resolve in dealing with this situation. However if I may make a request to Captain Crae; if any intelligence uplink was to be used that its operator would be Ensign Pena. Lieutenant Commander Janssen may be too busy to offer his assistance with any strike force that I may have to command to deal with the second bomb sight."

When Lillian separated them, Lars grinned a sly grin. "Yes of course, ma'am," he said enthusiastically and made his way to the indicated chair. "You're right, after all. This is about the crisis on Betazed," he intoned loftily. As he sat, though, Lars gave the assembled officers a little shrug and a knowing smirk as if to say "Marines, what can you do?" and was sure that by the look of it, at least some of them agreed.

It seemed like everyone turned to look at him to see if he would have any objections to Taylor's request that Nayla handle the uplink, but instead Lars just nodded. "The colonel has an excellent idea there. I'd rather not spend my time fiddling with uplinks. I will actually be busy with assessing the overall situation, so if this ensign can handle the matter then by all means," he said with a casual wave of his hand. Magnanimous in victory as always, Lars old boy, he thought, and leaned back in his chair with a triumphant smile. Still, he made a mental note to check on this Ensign Pena to see if she was on the level.

"Both of you, shut up!" Marlo commanded. "I'm sick of your testosterone battle! The two of you will only speak if you have something useful to say that has to do with the current mission. That's an order."

"Right…well, unless there are any more personal matters to attend to, perhaps we could start this briefing someday," Captain Wierzbowski said gruffly, not the least bit amused by the little scene but more than a little intrigued by its causes.

"Certainly sir." said Taylor formally before glaring at Lars in what could have been described as brutally murderous. If a look could raise or lower the room's temperature then the entire briefing would be wearing cold weather gear. I'll show you what marines can do you pompous little twat..."Now before anyone suggests that some safety feature from some lab has accidentally failed and released a virus I suggest you scrub that now. This is an entirely hostile situation. Right now phasers are more useful than medical tricorders until the threat can be contained and eliminated. From primary reports a bomb was detonated carrying a pathogen used by the Cardassians to prevent telepaths gaining knowledge of their top secret facilities. First it restricts the use of such abilities before rendering those with them...well, dead. Symptoms include increase in thermal activity within the body, sweating, headaches before developing into immobilization and death. Races that do not possess telepathy or empathy are simply not effected but I can't rule out that they could commute it to those that would be. I've recommended to Captain Crae that anyone within the area of operations should be in hard EVA suits or armor to prevent contamination."

Taylor took a small breath before continuing. One thing was for sure, he didn't like to repeat himself. "Medical and science would be best suited to the needed research to combat the virus and come up with numbers of contingency plans should attempts to locate the second bomb fail. From what we've gathered a threat has been made about a second device using an airborne variant of the virus. We can't call their bluff in case it turns out to be genuine. Right now no demands have been made yet and the location has yet to be determined. Once we find it, it goes without saying; we need to be aggressive and precise in disarming it and disabling its creators."

"Full on has-mat suits is overkill, Mr. Lucas. We know the original virus targeted telepaths--however, I'm unsure if it could transmit to non telepaths--I haven't had much alone time with the original--and it was only transmitted through blood, so unless you're planning to perform a blood oath with someone who's infected..." Marlo trailed off, knowing she got her point across.

"I believe that a quarantine is definitely in order here, but the most important part is finding the bomb--Commander Sharpe is more than prepared to dismantle the bomb should we find it, and we must find it." Lillian explained, trying to figure out what she wanted to do next. "As to your request, Colonel Lucas, I believe you should leave the channel open for Ensign Pena and Lieutenant Cross as she is CIO and came to me with some of our information in the first place. What I want to know is what team members will be going down with the group that I am leading."

She had yet to tell Taylor that she was leading a group down at Captain Wierzbowski's suggestion. Lillian knew that Taylor wasn't going to be happy about it, but Lillian wanted to do her part in all of this and felt like she had to be part of the solution. Either way, she was a leader who liked to know her team and she wanted more than anything to get to know some of the people before they got in orbit of Betazed and beamed down.

"Commander Bakel will be on the bridge of the Fenris to keep me posted, and my Marines and my Engineers are ready, but Medical and Science are most important." Lillian said out loud.

"Person who created this virus is smart commander." replied Taylor flatly. "They'd know that whoever it was deployed against might find out that it kills just telepaths. So then they'd surmise that we'd separated infected telepaths from non-infected telepaths. They've said that they've got an aerosol version of the weapon and it might be designed to use non-telepaths as a carrier or the disease. Please tell me that you're not going to weigh up the dangers against your weak argument here...so what if it's transmittable by blood? A medic forgets to use a fresh IV then one more person is infected. When NBC warfare is in effect you can't take chances. You have to prepare for the what ifs."

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thirty-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…"

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are--" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

"Stop it, both of you," Lillian said suddenly as she rose from the table and made it over to the two men, standing in between them.

In all reality they could take her easily--especially pregnant--even though she did have those psionic abilities of hers at her disposal. There was a time and a place for this, however, and this was not it. Lillian had no doubts in her mind that whatever respect that Captain Wierzbowski had for her was gone now considering how her MCO was acting. While Lillian got their past, no one else in the room did except for Marlo and Gabe a little bit.

"You, sit right there," Lillian told Taylor, pointing to the chair next to her, and then she looked at Lars and pointed to a chair across the table from Taylor. "You, sit there. I don't want any lip from either of you. This is about Betazed. There is a time and a place to talk to each other about this and believe me, I will be making both of you have that talk after this because I will not let Betazed fall because you two can't be in the same place together. What happened sucked and it shouldn't have happened, but right now we do not have the time to dwell on it."

Lillian took Taylor's hand that had been poking Lars in the chest and held it, letting their finger interlace even though that wasn't professional either. It was just that she needed to calm him down and she needed everyone to take a seat that hadn't sat down and she needed everyone to get to business. Lars and Taylor would talk about this later--she would force them to work it out if it was the last thing that she did.

Just for one moment Taylor thought of saying something but it was lost between a feeling of rage and the newly introduced peace that Lillian had introduced by her presence and touch. His nostrils flared but he nodded slowly. Instead of offering a rebuke Taylor just 'yes ma'am'ed in a rather defeated tone before sitting down and taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down. Yes, they would talk but not now...now was the time to prove Lars wrong.

"Captains, I apologize for my nature and can assure you it will not compromise our resolve in dealing with this situation. However if I may make a request to Captain Crae; if any intelligence uplink was to be used that its operator would be Ensign Pena. Lieutenant Commander Janssen may be too busy to offer his assistance with any strike force that I may have to command to deal with the second bomb sight."

When Lillian separated them, Lars grinned a sly grin. "Yes of course, ma'am," he said enthusiastically and made his way to the indicated chair. "You're right, after all. This is about the crisis on Betazed," he intoned loftily. As he sat, though, Lars gave the assembled officers a little shrug and a knowing smirk as if to say "Marines, what can you do?" and was sure that by the look of it, at least some of them agreed.

It seemed like everyone turned to look at him to see if he would have any objections to Taylor's request that Nayla handle the uplink, but instead Lars just nodded. "The colonel has an excellent idea there. I'd rather not spend my time fiddling with uplinks. I will actually be busy with assessing the overall situation, so if this ensign can handle the matter then by all means," he said with a casual wave of his hand. Magnanimous in victory as always, Lars old boy, he thought, and leaned back in his chair with a triumphant smile. Still, he made a mental note to check on this Ensign Pena to see if she was on the level.

"Both of you, shut up!" Marlo commanded. "I'm sick of your testosterone battle! The two of you will only speak if you have something useful to say that has to do with the current mission. That's an order."

"Right…well, unless there are any more personal matters to attend to, perhaps we could start this briefing someday," Captain Wierzbowski said gruffly, not the least bit amused by the little scene but more than a little intrigued by its causes.

"Certainly sir." said Taylor formally before glaring at Lars in what could have been described as brutally murderous. If a look could raise or lower the room's temperature then the entire briefing would be wearing cold weather gear. I'll show you what marines can do you pompous little twat..."Now before anyone suggests that some safety feature from some lab has accidentally failed and released a virus I suggest you scrub that now. This is an entirely hostile situation. Right now phasers are more useful than medical tricorders until the threat can be contained and eliminated. From primary reports a bomb was detonated carrying a pathogen used by the Cardassians to prevent telepaths gaining knowledge of their top secret facilities. First it restricts the use of such abilities before rendering those with them...well, dead. Symptoms include increase in thermal activity within the body, sweating, headaches before developing into immobilization and death. Races that do not possess telepathy or empathy are simply not effected but I can't rule out that they could commute it to those that would be. I've recommended to Captain Crae that anyone within the area of operations should be in hard EVA suits or armor to prevent contamination."

Taylor took a small breath before continuing. One thing was for sure, he didn't like to repeat himself. "Medical and science would be best suited to the needed research to combat the virus and come up with numbers of contingency plans should attempts to locate the second bomb fail. From what we've gathered a threat has been made about a second device using an airborne variant of the virus. We can't call their bluff in case it turns out to be genuine. Right now no demands have been made yet and the location has yet to be determined. Once we find it, it goes without saying; we need to be aggressive and precise in disarming it and disabling its creators."

"Full on has-mat suits is overkill, Mr. Lucas. We know the original virus targeted telepaths--however, I'm unsure if it could transmit to non telepaths--I haven't had much alone time with the original--and it was only transmitted through blood, so unless you're planning to perform a blood oath with someone who's infected..." Marlo trailed off, knowing she got her point across.

"I believe that a quarantine is definitely in order here, but the most important part is finding the bomb--Commander Sharpe is more than prepared to dismantle the bomb should we find it, and we must find it." Lillian explained, trying to figure out what she wanted to do next. "As to your request, Colonel Lucas, I believe you should leave the channel open for Ensign Pena and Lieutenant Cross as she is CIO and came to me with some of our information in the first place. What I want to know is what team members will be going down with the group that I am leading."

She had yet to tell Taylor that she was leading a group down at Captain Wierzbowski's suggestion. Lillian knew that Taylor wasn't going to be happy about it, but Lillian wanted to do her part in all of this and felt like she had to be part of the solution. Either way, she was a leader who liked to know her team and she wanted more than anything to get to know some of the people before they got in orbit of Betazed and beamed down.

"Commander Bakel will be on the bridge of the Fenris to keep me posted, and my Marines and my Engineers are ready, but Medical and Science are most important." Lillian said out loud.

"Person who created this virus is smart commander." replied Taylor flatly. "They'd know that whoever it was deployed against might find out that it kills just telepaths. So then they'd surmise that we'd separated infected telepaths from non-infected telepaths. They've said that they've got an aerosol version of the weapon and it might be designed to use non-telepaths as a carrier or the disease. Please tell me that you're not going to weigh up the dangers against your weak argument here...so what if it's transmittable by blood? A medic forgets to use a fresh IV then one more person is infected. When NBC warfare is in effect you can't take chances. You have to prepare for the what ifs."

Gabe sat in silence, his arms folded across his chest as the briefing continued. He almost smiled as Taylor gave Lars a dressing down but said nothing, he had too much on his mind at the minute.

"I agree with Colonel Lucas, When dealing with a virus like this we can't be too careful. We know the virus has been modifed to become airborne we have no idea what other changes have been made and given our timeline we don't really have the time to find out. But before i even think about that we need to find that bomb, so what's the plan on that one?"

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thirty-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…"

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are--" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

"Stop it, both of you," Lillian said suddenly as she rose from the table and made it over to the two men, standing in between them.

In all reality they could take her easily--especially pregnant--even though she did have those psionic abilities of hers at her disposal. There was a time and a place for this, however, and this was not it. Lillian had no doubts in her mind that whatever respect that Captain Wierzbowski had for her was gone now considering how her MCO was acting. While Lillian got their past, no one else in the room did except for Marlo and Gabe a little bit.

"You, sit right there," Lillian told Taylor, pointing to the chair next to her, and then she looked at Lars and pointed to a chair across the table from Taylor. "You, sit there. I don't want any lip from either of you. This is about Betazed. There is a time and a place to talk to each other about this and believe me, I will be making both of you have that talk after this because I will not let Betazed fall because you two can't be in the same place together. What happened sucked and it shouldn't have happened, but right now we do not have the time to dwell on it."

Lillian took Taylor's hand that had been poking Lars in the chest and held it, letting their finger interlace even though that wasn't professional either. It was just that she needed to calm him down and she needed everyone to take a seat that hadn't sat down and she needed everyone to get to business. Lars and Taylor would talk about this later--she would force them to work it out if it was the last thing that she did.

Just for one moment Taylor thought of saying something but it was lost between a feeling of rage and the newly introduced peace that Lillian had introduced by her presence and touch. His nostrils flared but he nodded slowly. Instead of offering a rebuke Taylor just 'yes ma'am'ed in a rather defeated tone before sitting down and taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down. Yes, they would talk but not now...now was the time to prove Lars wrong.

"Captains, I apologize for my nature and can assure you it will not compromise our resolve in dealing with this situation. However if I may make a request to Captain Crae; if any intelligence uplink was to be used that its operator would be Ensign Pena. Lieutenant Commander Janssen may be too busy to offer his assistance with any strike force that I may have to command to deal with the second bomb sight."

When Lillian separated them, Lars grinned a sly grin. "Yes of course, ma'am," he said enthusiastically and made his way to the indicated chair. "You're right, after all. This is about the crisis on Betazed," he intoned loftily. As he sat, though, Lars gave the assembled officers a little shrug and a knowing smirk as if to say "Marines, what can you do?" and was sure that by the look of it, at least some of them agreed.

It seemed like everyone turned to look at him to see if he would have any objections to Taylor's request that Nayla handle the uplink, but instead Lars just nodded. "The colonel has an excellent idea there. I'd rather not spend my time fiddling with uplinks. I will actually be busy with assessing the overall situation, so if this ensign can handle the matter then by all means," he said with a casual wave of his hand. Magnanimous in victory as always, Lars old boy, he thought, and leaned back in his chair with a triumphant smile. Still, he made a mental note to check on this Ensign Pena to see if she was on the level.

"Both of you, shut up!" Marlo commanded. "I'm sick of your testosterone battle! The two of you will only speak if you have something useful to say that has to do with the current mission. That's an order."

"Right…well, unless there are any more personal matters to attend to, perhaps we could start this briefing someday," Captain Wierzbowski said gruffly, not the least bit amused by the little scene but more than a little intrigued by its causes.

"Certainly sir." said Taylor formally before glaring at Lars in what could have been described as brutally murderous. If a look could raise or lower the room's temperature then the entire briefing would be wearing cold weather gear. I'll show you what marines can do you pompous little twat..."Now before anyone suggests that some safety feature from some lab has accidentally failed and released a virus I suggest you scrub that now. This is an entirely hostile situation. Right now phasers are more useful than medical tricorders until the threat can be contained and eliminated. From primary reports a bomb was detonated carrying a pathogen used by the Cardassians to prevent telepaths gaining knowledge of their top secret facilities. First it restricts the use of such abilities before rendering those with them...well, dead. Symptoms include increase in thermal activity within the body, sweating, headaches before developing into immobilization and death. Races that do not possess telepathy or empathy are simply not effected but I can't rule out that they could commute it to those that would be. I've recommended to Captain Crae that anyone within the area of operations should be in hard EVA suits or armor to prevent contamination."

Taylor took a small breath before continuing. One thing was for sure, he didn't like to repeat himself. "Medical and science would be best suited to the needed research to combat the virus and come up with numbers of contingency plans should attempts to locate the second bomb fail. From what we've gathered a threat has been made about a second device using an airborne variant of the virus. We can't call their bluff in case it turns out to be genuine. Right now no demands have been made yet and the location has yet to be determined. Once we find it, it goes without saying; we need to be aggressive and precise in disarming it and disabling its creators."

"Full on has-mat suits is overkill, Mr. Lucas. We know the original virus targeted telepaths--however, I'm unsure if it could transmit to non telepaths--I haven't had much alone time with the original--and it was only transmitted through blood, so unless you're planning to perform a blood oath with someone who's infected..." Marlo trailed off, knowing she got her point across.

"I believe that a quarantine is definitely in order here, but the most important part is finding the bomb--Commander Sharpe is more than prepared to dismantle the bomb should we find it, and we must find it." Lillian explained, trying to figure out what she wanted to do next. "As to your request, Colonel Lucas, I believe you should leave the channel open for Ensign Pena and Lieutenant Cross as she is CIO and came to me with some of our information in the first place. What I want to know is what team members will be going down with the group that I am leading."

She had yet to tell Taylor that she was leading a group down at Captain Wierzbowski's suggestion. Lillian knew that Taylor wasn't going to be happy about it, but Lillian wanted to do her part in all of this and felt like she had to be part of the solution. Either way, she was a leader who liked to know her team and she wanted more than anything to get to know some of the people before they got in orbit of Betazed and beamed down.

"Commander Bakel will be on the bridge of the Fenris to keep me posted, and my Marines and my Engineers are ready, but Medical and Science are most important." Lillian said out loud.

"Person who created this virus is smart commander." replied Taylor flatly. "They'd know that whoever it was deployed against might find out that it kills just telepaths. So then they'd surmise that we'd separated infected telepaths from non-infected telepaths. They've said that they've got an aerosol version of the weapon and it might be designed to use non-telepaths as a carrier or the disease. Please tell me that you're not going to weigh up the dangers against your weak argument here...so what if it's transmittable by blood? A medic forgets to use a fresh IV then one more person is infected. When NBC warfare is in effect you can't take chances. You have to prepare for the what ifs."

Gabe sat in silence, his arms folded across his chest as the briefing continued. He almost smiled as Taylor gave Lars a dressing down but said nothing, he had too much on his mind at the minute.

"I agree with Colonel Lucas, When dealing with a virus like this we can't be too careful. We know the virus has been modifed to become airborne we have no idea what other changes have been made and given our timeline we don't really have the time to find out. But before i even think about that we need to find that bomb, so what's the plan on that one?"

"No offensive Lieutenant Commander Sharpe, but I have an objection." Alyssa spoke, knowing full well that she was not exactly a medical officer and had no control over Captain Wierzbowski's decisions. "I'm sorry Captain Crae, but I believe it to be very unwise for you to lead a team. I know that this is your home planet and you want to help at all costs, but you need to remember that you've been infected by this virus before and you're with child now. The virus now on Betazed may not be the same virus, and we have no idea of the full capability it has. I'm against you leading a team, and will be stated in my report as such. Now, I have a request. One that I hope you, and Captain Wierzbowski will grant. I request to be as far away from Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen as possible."

Alyssa knew all too well that this request would not be granted, and her objection would be ignored. She decided to take a chance in front of everyone to state her objection and request, rather than to keep it to herself and possibly plan the death of Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen. She knew, from the reports, what had happen on the planet where Taylor was left for dead along with her cousin's account; which she believed more so than the reports.

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thirty-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…"

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are--" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

"Stop it, both of you," Lillian said suddenly as she rose from the table and made it over to the two men, standing in between them.

In all reality they could take her easily--especially pregnant--even though she did have those psionic abilities of hers at her disposal. There was a time and a place for this, however, and this was not it. Lillian had no doubts in her mind that whatever respect that Captain Wierzbowski had for her was gone now considering how her MCO was acting. While Lillian got their past, no one else in the room did except for Marlo and Gabe a little bit.

"You, sit right there," Lillian told Taylor, pointing to the chair next to her, and then she looked at Lars and pointed to a chair across the table from Taylor. "You, sit there. I don't want any lip from either of you. This is about Betazed. There is a time and a place to talk to each other about this and believe me, I will be making both of you have that talk after this because I will not let Betazed fall because you two can't be in the same place together. What happened sucked and it shouldn't have happened, but right now we do not have the time to dwell on it."

Lillian took Taylor's hand that had been poking Lars in the chest and held it, letting their finger interlace even though that wasn't professional either. It was just that she needed to calm him down and she needed everyone to take a seat that hadn't sat down and she needed everyone to get to business. Lars and Taylor would talk about this later--she would force them to work it out if it was the last thing that she did.

Just for one moment Taylor thought of saying something but it was lost between a feeling of rage and the newly introduced peace that Lillian had introduced by her presence and touch. His nostrils flared but he nodded slowly. Instead of offering a rebuke Taylor just 'yes ma'am'ed in a rather defeated tone before sitting down and taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down. Yes, they would talk but not now...now was the time to prove Lars wrong.

"Captains, I apologize for my nature and can assure you it will not compromise our resolve in dealing with this situation. However if I may make a request to Captain Crae; if any intelligence uplink was to be used that its operator would be Ensign Pena. Lieutenant Commander Janssen may be too busy to offer his assistance with any strike force that I may have to command to deal with the second bomb sight."

When Lillian separated them, Lars grinned a sly grin. "Yes of course, ma'am," he said enthusiastically and made his way to the indicated chair. "You're right, after all. This is about the crisis on Betazed," he intoned loftily. As he sat, though, Lars gave the assembled officers a little shrug and a knowing smirk as if to say "Marines, what can you do?" and was sure that by the look of it, at least some of them agreed.

It seemed like everyone turned to look at him to see if he would have any objections to Taylor's request that Nayla handle the uplink, but instead Lars just nodded. "The colonel has an excellent idea there. I'd rather not spend my time fiddling with uplinks. I will actually be busy with assessing the overall situation, so if this ensign can handle the matter then by all means," he said with a casual wave of his hand. Magnanimous in victory as always, Lars old boy, he thought, and leaned back in his chair with a triumphant smile. Still, he made a mental note to check on this Ensign Pena to see if she was on the level.

"Both of you, shut up!" Marlo commanded. "I'm sick of your testosterone battle! The two of you will only speak if you have something useful to say that has to do with the current mission. That's an order."

"Right…well, unless there are any more personal matters to attend to, perhaps we could start this briefing someday," Captain Wierzbowski said gruffly, not the least bit amused by the little scene but more than a little intrigued by its causes.

"Certainly sir." said Taylor formally before glaring at Lars in what could have been described as brutally murderous. If a look could raise or lower the room's temperature then the entire briefing would be wearing cold weather gear. I'll show you what marines can do you pompous little twat..."Now before anyone suggests that some safety feature from some lab has accidentally failed and released a virus I suggest you scrub that now. This is an entirely hostile situation. Right now phasers are more useful than medical tricorders until the threat can be contained and eliminated. From primary reports a bomb was detonated carrying a pathogen used by the Cardassians to prevent telepaths gaining knowledge of their top secret facilities. First it restricts the use of such abilities before rendering those with them...well, dead. Symptoms include increase in thermal activity within the body, sweating, headaches before developing into immobilization and death. Races that do not possess telepathy or empathy are simply not effected but I can't rule out that they could commute it to those that would be. I've recommended to Captain Crae that anyone within the area of operations should be in hard EVA suits or armor to prevent contamination."

Taylor took a small breath before continuing. One thing was for sure, he didn't like to repeat himself. "Medical and science would be best suited to the needed research to combat the virus and come up with numbers of contingency plans should attempts to locate the second bomb fail. From what we've gathered a threat has been made about a second device using an airborne variant of the virus. We can't call their bluff in case it turns out to be genuine. Right now no demands have been made yet and the location has yet to be determined. Once we find it, it goes without saying; we need to be aggressive and precise in disarming it and disabling its creators."

"Full on has-mat suits is overkill, Mr. Lucas. We know the original virus targeted telepaths--however, I'm unsure if it could transmit to non telepaths--I haven't had much alone time with the original--and it was only transmitted through blood, so unless you're planning to perform a blood oath with someone who's infected..." Marlo trailed off, knowing she got her point across.

"I believe that a quarantine is definitely in order here, but the most important part is finding the bomb--Commander Sharpe is more than prepared to dismantle the bomb should we find it, and we must find it." Lillian explained, trying to figure out what she wanted to do next. "As to your request, Colonel Lucas, I believe you should leave the channel open for Ensign Pena and Lieutenant Cross as she is CIO and came to me with some of our information in the first place. What I want to know is what team members will be going down with the group that I am leading."

She had yet to tell Taylor that she was leading a group down at Captain Wierzbowski's suggestion. Lillian knew that Taylor wasn't going to be happy about it, but Lillian wanted to do her part in all of this and felt like she had to be part of the solution. Either way, she was a leader who liked to know her team and she wanted more than anything to get to know some of the people before they got in orbit of Betazed and beamed down.

"Commander Bakel will be on the bridge of the Fenris to keep me posted, and my Marines and my Engineers are ready, but Medical and Science are most important." Lillian said out loud.

"Person who created this virus is smart commander." replied Taylor flatly. "They'd know that whoever it was deployed against might find out that it kills just telepaths. So then they'd surmise that we'd separated infected telepaths from non-infected telepaths. They've said that they've got an aerosol version of the weapon and it might be designed to use non-telepaths as a carrier or the disease. Please tell me that you're not going to weigh up the dangers against your weak argument here...so what if it's transmittable by blood? A medic forgets to use a fresh IV then one more person is infected. When NBC warfare is in effect you can't take chances. You have to prepare for the what ifs."

Gabe sat in silence, his arms folded across his chest as the briefing continued. He almost smiled as Taylor gave Lars a dressing down but said nothing, he had too much on his mind at the minute.

"I agree with Colonel Lucas, When dealing with a virus like this we can't be too careful. We know the virus has been modifed to become airborne we have no idea what other changes have been made and given our timeline we don't really have the time to find out. But before i even think about that we need to find that bomb, so what's the plan on that one?"

"No offensive Lieutenant Commander Sharpe, but I have an objection." Alyssa spoke, knowing full well that she was not exactly a medical officer and had no control over Captain Wierzbowski's decisions. "I'm sorry Captain Crae, but I believe it to be very unwise for you to lead a team. I know that this is your home planet and you want to help at all costs, but you need to remember that you've been infected by this virus before and you're with child now. The virus now on Betazed may not be the same virus, and we have no idea of the full capability it has. I'm against you leading a team, and will be stated in my report as such. Now, I have a request. One that I hope you, and Captain Wierzbowski will grant. I request to be as far away from Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen as possible."

Alyssa knew all too well that this request would not be granted, and her objection would be ignored. She decided to take a chance in front of everyone to state her objection and request, rather than to keep it to herself and possibly plan the death of Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen. She knew, from the reports, what had happen on the planet where Taylor was left for dead along with her cousin's account; which she believed more so than the reports.

Lars gave Alyssa an icy stare at that, but said nothing, only slowly typed something into his PADD. It was clear to him that the crew of the Fenris had been thoroughly infected by Taylor and his ideas, and that presented a problem. He would need to find some allies on the ship, but it seemed like no one at this briefing would do. A closer evaluation of the rest of the crew was in order. Frowning, he carefully set the PADD down on the table and folded his gloved hands in front of him as he gazed at Lillian now, still silent.

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thirty-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…"

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are--" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

"Stop it, both of you," Lillian said suddenly as she rose from the table and made it over to the two men, standing in between them.

In all reality they could take her easily--especially pregnant--even though she did have those psionic abilities of hers at her disposal. There was a time and a place for this, however, and this was not it. Lillian had no doubts in her mind that whatever respect that Captain Wierzbowski had for her was gone now considering how her MCO was acting. While Lillian got their past, no one else in the room did except for Marlo and Gabe a little bit.

"You, sit right there," Lillian told Taylor, pointing to the chair next to her, and then she looked at Lars and pointed to a chair across the table from Taylor. "You, sit there. I don't want any lip from either of you. This is about Betazed. There is a time and a place to talk to each other about this and believe me, I will be making both of you have that talk after this because I will not let Betazed fall because you two can't be in the same place together. What happened sucked and it shouldn't have happened, but right now we do not have the time to dwell on it."

Lillian took Taylor's hand that had been poking Lars in the chest and held it, letting their finger interlace even though that wasn't professional either. It was just that she needed to calm him down and she needed everyone to take a seat that hadn't sat down and she needed everyone to get to business. Lars and Taylor would talk about this later--she would force them to work it out if it was the last thing that she did.

Just for one moment Taylor thought of saying something but it was lost between a feeling of rage and the newly introduced peace that Lillian had introduced by her presence and touch. His nostrils flared but he nodded slowly. Instead of offering a rebuke Taylor just 'yes ma'am'ed in a rather defeated tone before sitting down and taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down. Yes, they would talk but not now...now was the time to prove Lars wrong.

"Captains, I apologize for my nature and can assure you it will not compromise our resolve in dealing with this situation. However if I may make a request to Captain Crae; if any intelligence uplink was to be used that its operator would be Ensign Pena. Lieutenant Commander Janssen may be too busy to offer his assistance with any strike force that I may have to command to deal with the second bomb sight."

When Lillian separated them, Lars grinned a sly grin. "Yes of course, ma'am," he said enthusiastically and made his way to the indicated chair. "You're right, after all. This is about the crisis on Betazed," he intoned loftily. As he sat, though, Lars gave the assembled officers a little shrug and a knowing smirk as if to say "Marines, what can you do?" and was sure that by the look of it, at least some of them agreed.

It seemed like everyone turned to look at him to see if he would have any objections to Taylor's request that Nayla handle the uplink, but instead Lars just nodded. "The colonel has an excellent idea there. I'd rather not spend my time fiddling with uplinks. I will actually be busy with assessing the overall situation, so if this ensign can handle the matter then by all means," he said with a casual wave of his hand. Magnanimous in victory as always, Lars old boy, he thought, and leaned back in his chair with a triumphant smile. Still, he made a mental note to check on this Ensign Pena to see if she was on the level.

"Both of you, shut up!" Marlo commanded. "I'm sick of your testosterone battle! The two of you will only speak if you have something useful to say that has to do with the current mission. That's an order."

"Right…well, unless there are any more personal matters to attend to, perhaps we could start this briefing someday," Captain Wierzbowski said gruffly, not the least bit amused by the little scene but more than a little intrigued by its causes.

"Certainly sir." said Taylor formally before glaring at Lars in what could have been described as brutally murderous. If a look could raise or lower the room's temperature then the entire briefing would be wearing cold weather gear. I'll show you what marines can do you pompous little twat..."Now before anyone suggests that some safety feature from some lab has accidentally failed and released a virus I suggest you scrub that now. This is an entirely hostile situation. Right now phasers are more useful than medical tricorders until the threat can be contained and eliminated. From primary reports a bomb was detonated carrying a pathogen used by the Cardassians to prevent telepaths gaining knowledge of their top secret facilities. First it restricts the use of such abilities before rendering those with them...well, dead. Symptoms include increase in thermal activity within the body, sweating, headaches before developing into immobilization and death. Races that do not possess telepathy or empathy are simply not effected but I can't rule out that they could commute it to those that would be. I've recommended to Captain Crae that anyone within the area of operations should be in hard EVA suits or armor to prevent contamination."

Taylor took a small breath before continuing. One thing was for sure, he didn't like to repeat himself. "Medical and science would be best suited to the needed research to combat the virus and come up with numbers of contingency plans should attempts to locate the second bomb fail. From what we've gathered a threat has been made about a second device using an airborne variant of the virus. We can't call their bluff in case it turns out to be genuine. Right now no demands have been made yet and the location has yet to be determined. Once we find it, it goes without saying; we need to be aggressive and precise in disarming it and disabling its creators."

"Full on has-mat suits is overkill, Mr. Lucas. We know the original virus targeted telepaths--however, I'm unsure if it could transmit to non telepaths--I haven't had much alone time with the original--and it was only transmitted through blood, so unless you're planning to perform a blood oath with someone who's infected..." Marlo trailed off, knowing she got her point across.

"I believe that a quarantine is definitely in order here, but the most important part is finding the bomb--Commander Sharpe is more than prepared to dismantle the bomb should we find it, and we must find it." Lillian explained, trying to figure out what she wanted to do next. "As to your request, Colonel Lucas, I believe you should leave the channel open for Ensign Pena and Lieutenant Cross as she is CIO and came to me with some of our information in the first place. What I want to know is what team members will be going down with the group that I am leading."

She had yet to tell Taylor that she was leading a group down at Captain Wierzbowski's suggestion. Lillian knew that Taylor wasn't going to be happy about it, but Lillian wanted to do her part in all of this and felt like she had to be part of the solution. Either way, she was a leader who liked to know her team and she wanted more than anything to get to know some of the people before they got in orbit of Betazed and beamed down.

"Commander Bakel will be on the bridge of the Fenris to keep me posted, and my Marines and my Engineers are ready, but Medical and Science are most important." Lillian said out loud.

"Person who created this virus is smart commander." replied Taylor flatly. "They'd know that whoever it was deployed against might find out that it kills just telepaths. So then they'd surmise that we'd separated infected telepaths from non-infected telepaths. They've said that they've got an aerosol version of the weapon and it might be designed to use non-telepaths as a carrier or the disease. Please tell me that you're not going to weigh up the dangers against your weak argument here...so what if it's transmittable by blood? A medic forgets to use a fresh IV then one more person is infected. When NBC warfare is in effect you can't take chances. You have to prepare for the what ifs."

Gabe sat in silence, his arms folded across his chest as the briefing continued. He almost smiled as Taylor gave Lars a dressing down but said nothing, he had too much on his mind at the minute.

"I agree with Colonel Lucas, when dealing with a virus like this we can't be too careful. We know the virus has been modifed to become airborne we have no idea what other changes have been made and given our timeline we don't really have the time to find out. But before I even think about that we need to find that bomb, so what's the plan on that one?"

"No offense Lieutenant Commander Sharpe, but I have an objection," Alyssa spoke, knowing full well that she was not exactly a medical officer and had no control over Captain Wierzbowski's decisions. "I'm sorry Captain Crae, but I believe it to be very unwise for you to lead a team. I know that this is your home planet and you want to help at all costs, but you need to remember that you've been infected by this virus before and you're with child now. The virus now on Betazed may not be the same virus, and we have no idea of the full capability it has. I'm against you leading a team, and will be stated in my report as such. Now, I have a request. One that I hope you, and Captain Wierzbowski will grant. I request to be as far away from Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen as possible."

Alyssa knew all too well that this request would not be granted, and her objection would be ignored. She decided to take a chance in front of everyone to state her objection and request, rather than to keep it to herself and possibly plan the death of Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen. She knew, from the reports, what had happen on the planet where Taylor was left for dead along with her cousin's account; which she believed more so than the reports.

Lars gave Alyssa an icy stare at that, but said nothing, only slowly typed something into his PADD. It was clear to him that the crew of the Fenris had been thoroughly infected by Taylor and his ideas, and that presented a problem. He would need to find some allies on the ship, but it seemed like no one at this briefing would do. A closer evaluation of the rest of the crew was in order. Frowning, he carefully set the PADD down on the table and folded his gloved hands in front of him as he gazed at Lillian now, still silent.

Lillian felt...embarrassed. She couldn't figure out what other emotions were swirling around in there but she knew for certain that she was embarrassed. Not a single one of her Senior Officers had been acting with any respect for authority except for Marlo, Kalen and Gabe, and Marissa and Marlena who had kept silent all this time. The moment Lars and Taylor started throwing quips at each other it had just shown the other officers that they could act like that and now Lillian knew whatever respect she had gained coming aboard the Mitterand had been lost.

She could just imagine the kind of reports that Captain Weirzbowski would be filing about her to Starfleet Command and she couldn't help but feel a bit defeated. She'd told K'Nok that she wasn't fit to run her own ship and she felt as though she had been incredibly right because she had failed...she didn't have a team that could work together and put personal issues aside when faced with a crisis. That was a clear indication of failed leadership. Now wasn't the time to feel sorry for herself, however, it was a time to assert herself.

"EVA suits will be mandatory for the group going after the bomb, however other than that I will not permit such measures as reports from Betazed don't show a mutation so far from the research I found on Baicephorus VII. Such extreme precautions will just alert the civilians into a panic and that is the last thing that we want." Lillian said in an authoritative voice, though she had a feeling that the ones that knew her best, knew she was feeling defeated. "I will be leading the first team down. In case you have all forgotten, I have the knowledge and research at my disposal as well as the personal experience to help the doctors already on Betazed to piece this all together. This is not about our sacrifices, this about an entire race that has been exposed to something deadly for no good reason. So, let me be perfectly clear in spelling out your orders because that is why you are here. To get a job done."

Lillian didn't know if they would all hate her or not for her next words, but she was tired of personal games. "Commander Bakel will keep in contact with everyone from the Fenris, working on her own tasks I have assigned to her up there, and making sure that everyone else is doing what they should be doing. Colonel Lucas and Lieutenant Gespard will be with the Marine Detachment, helping to search for the bomb, accompanied by Commander Sharpe who will be in charge of dismantling the bomb, and Lieutenant Garren and a team of her choosing who will help as well. As for Lieutenant Life, I will let her know what is going on and she will accompany me as I will need her assistance in research, as well as my CMO, Rothschild. Lieutenant Shields will be heading down to the planet to help to make sure this situation can be handled in a healthy emotional way--helping the other counselors down there already, as Betazed is home to many. Lieutenant Cross and Commander Janssen? PIck where your think your specialties are better served and you have my permission to do just that. From here on out you will all be taking orders from the personnel down there already that outrank you and you will follow them without question and with respect. Is everyone clear?"


<Taggles: Anyone who wants to>

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thirty-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…"

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are--" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

"Stop it, both of you," Lillian said suddenly as she rose from the table and made it over to the two men, standing in between them.

In all reality they could take her easily--especially pregnant--even though she did have those psionic abilities of hers at her disposal. There was a time and a place for this, however, and this was not it. Lillian had no doubts in her mind that whatever respect that Captain Wierzbowski had for her was gone now considering how her MCO was acting. While Lillian got their past, no one else in the room did except for Marlo and Gabe a little bit.

"You, sit right there," Lillian told Taylor, pointing to the chair next to her, and then she looked at Lars and pointed to a chair across the table from Taylor. "You, sit there. I don't want any lip from either of you. This is about Betazed. There is a time and a place to talk to each other about this and believe me, I will be making both of you have that talk after this because I will not let Betazed fall because you two can't be in the same place together. What happened sucked and it shouldn't have happened, but right now we do not have the time to dwell on it."

Lillian took Taylor's hand that had been poking Lars in the chest and held it, letting their finger interlace even though that wasn't professional either. It was just that she needed to calm him down and she needed everyone to take a seat that hadn't sat down and she needed everyone to get to business. Lars and Taylor would talk about this later--she would force them to work it out if it was the last thing that she did.

Just for one moment Taylor thought of saying something but it was lost between a feeling of rage and the newly introduced peace that Lillian had introduced by her presence and touch. His nostrils flared but he nodded slowly. Instead of offering a rebuke Taylor just 'yes ma'am'ed in a rather defeated tone before sitting down and taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down. Yes, they would talk but not now...now was the time to prove Lars wrong.

"Captains, I apologize for my nature and can assure you it will not compromise our resolve in dealing with this situation. However if I may make a request to Captain Crae; if any intelligence uplink was to be used that its operator would be Ensign Pena. Lieutenant Commander Janssen may be too busy to offer his assistance with any strike force that I may have to command to deal with the second bomb sight."

When Lillian separated them, Lars grinned a sly grin. "Yes of course, ma'am," he said enthusiastically and made his way to the indicated chair. "You're right, after all. This is about the crisis on Betazed," he intoned loftily. As he sat, though, Lars gave the assembled officers a little shrug and a knowing smirk as if to say "Marines, what can you do?" and was sure that by the look of it, at least some of them agreed.

It seemed like everyone turned to look at him to see if he would have any objections to Taylor's request that Nayla handle the uplink, but instead Lars just nodded. "The colonel has an excellent idea there. I'd rather not spend my time fiddling with uplinks. I will actually be busy with assessing the overall situation, so if this ensign can handle the matter then by all means," he said with a casual wave of his hand. Magnanimous in victory as always, Lars old boy, he thought, and leaned back in his chair with a triumphant smile. Still, he made a mental note to check on this Ensign Pena to see if she was on the level.

"Both of you, shut up!" Marlo commanded. "I'm sick of your testosterone battle! The two of you will only speak if you have something useful to say that has to do with the current mission. That's an order."

"Right…well, unless there are any more personal matters to attend to, perhaps we could start this briefing someday," Captain Wierzbowski said gruffly, not the least bit amused by the little scene but more than a little intrigued by its causes.

"Certainly sir." said Taylor formally before glaring at Lars in what could have been described as brutally murderous. If a look could raise or lower the room's temperature then the entire briefing would be wearing cold weather gear. I'll show you what marines can do you pompous little twat..."Now before anyone suggests that some safety feature from some lab has accidentally failed and released a virus I suggest you scrub that now. This is an entirely hostile situation. Right now phasers are more useful than medical tricorders until the threat can be contained and eliminated. From primary reports a bomb was detonated carrying a pathogen used by the Cardassians to prevent telepaths gaining knowledge of their top secret facilities. First it restricts the use of such abilities before rendering those with them...well, dead. Symptoms include increase in thermal activity within the body, sweating, headaches before developing into immobilization and death. Races that do not possess telepathy or empathy are simply not effected but I can't rule out that they could commute it to those that would be. I've recommended to Captain Crae that anyone within the area of operations should be in hard EVA suits or armor to prevent contamination."

Taylor took a small breath before continuing. One thing was for sure, he didn't like to repeat himself. "Medical and science would be best suited to the needed research to combat the virus and come up with numbers of contingency plans should attempts to locate the second bomb fail. From what we've gathered a threat has been made about a second device using an airborne variant of the virus. We can't call their bluff in case it turns out to be genuine. Right now no demands have been made yet and the location has yet to be determined. Once we find it, it goes without saying; we need to be aggressive and precise in disarming it and disabling its creators."

"Full on has-mat suits is overkill, Mr. Lucas. We know the original virus targeted telepaths--however, I'm unsure if it could transmit to non telepaths--I haven't had much alone time with the original--and it was only transmitted through blood, so unless you're planning to perform a blood oath with someone who's infected..." Marlo trailed off, knowing she got her point across.

"I believe that a quarantine is definitely in order here, but the most important part is finding the bomb--Commander Sharpe is more than prepared to dismantle the bomb should we find it, and we must find it." Lillian explained, trying to figure out what she wanted to do next. "As to your request, Colonel Lucas, I believe you should leave the channel open for Ensign Pena and Lieutenant Cross as she is CIO and came to me with some of our information in the first place. What I want to know is what team members will be going down with the group that I am leading."

She had yet to tell Taylor that she was leading a group down at Captain Wierzbowski's suggestion. Lillian knew that Taylor wasn't going to be happy about it, but Lillian wanted to do her part in all of this and felt like she had to be part of the solution. Either way, she was a leader who liked to know her team and she wanted more than anything to get to know some of the people before they got in orbit of Betazed and beamed down.

"Commander Bakel will be on the bridge of the Fenris to keep me posted, and my Marines and my Engineers are ready, but Medical and Science are most important." Lillian said out loud.

"Person who created this virus is smart commander." replied Taylor flatly. "They'd know that whoever it was deployed against might find out that it kills just telepaths. So then they'd surmise that we'd separated infected telepaths from non-infected telepaths. They've said that they've got an aerosol version of the weapon and it might be designed to use non-telepaths as a carrier or the disease. Please tell me that you're not going to weigh up the dangers against your weak argument here...so what if it's transmittable by blood? A medic forgets to use a fresh IV then one more person is infected. When NBC warfare is in effect you can't take chances. You have to prepare for the what ifs."

Gabe sat in silence, his arms folded across his chest as the briefing continued. He almost smiled as Taylor gave Lars a dressing down but said nothing, he had too much on his mind at the minute.

"I agree with Colonel Lucas, when dealing with a virus like this we can't be too careful. We know the virus has been modifed to become airborne we have no idea what other changes have been made and given our timeline we don't really have the time to find out. But before I even think about that we need to find that bomb, so what's the plan on that one?"

"No offense Lieutenant Commander Sharpe, but I have an objection," Alyssa spoke, knowing full well that she was not exactly a medical officer and had no control over Captain Wierzbowski's decisions. "I'm sorry Captain Crae, but I believe it to be very unwise for you to lead a team. I know that this is your home planet and you want to help at all costs, but you need to remember that you've been infected by this virus before and you're with child now. The virus now on Betazed may not be the same virus, and we have no idea of the full capability it has. I'm against you leading a team, and will be stated in my report as such. Now, I have a request. One that I hope you, and Captain Wierzbowski will grant. I request to be as far away from Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen as possible."

Alyssa knew all too well that this request would not be granted, and her objection would be ignored. She decided to take a chance in front of everyone to state her objection and request, rather than to keep it to herself and possibly plan the death of Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen. She knew, from the reports, what had happen on the planet where Taylor was left for dead along with her cousin's account; which she believed more so than the reports.

Lars gave Alyssa an icy stare at that, but said nothing, only slowly typed something into his PADD. It was clear to him that the crew of the Fenris had been thoroughly infected by Taylor and his ideas, and that presented a problem. He would need to find some allies on the ship, but it seemed like no one at this briefing would do. A closer evaluation of the rest of the crew was in order. Frowning, he carefully set the PADD down on the table and folded his gloved hands in front of him as he gazed at Lillian now, still silent.

Lillian felt...embarrassed. She couldn't figure out what other emotions were swirling around in there but she knew for certain that she was embarrassed. Not a single one of her Senior Officers had been acting with any respect for authority except for Marlo, Kalen and Gabe, and Marissa and Marlena who had kept silent all this time. The moment Lars and Taylor started throwing quips at each other it had just shown the other officers that they could act like that and now Lillian knew whatever respect she had gained coming aboard the Mitterand had been lost.

She could just imagine the kind of reports that Captain Weirzbowski would be filing about her to Starfleet Command and she couldn't help but feel a bit defeated. She'd told K'Nok that she wasn't fit to run her own ship and she felt as though she had been incredibly right because she had failed...she didn't have a team that could work together and put personal issues aside when faced with a crisis. That was a clear indication of failed leadership. Now wasn't the time to feel sorry for herself, however, it was a time to assert herself.

"EVA suits will be mandatory for the group going after the bomb, however other than that I will not permit such measures as reports from Betazed don't show a mutation so far from the research I found on Baicephorus VII. Such extreme precautions will just alert the civilians into a panic and that is the last thing that we want." Lillian said in an authoritative voice, though she had a feeling that the ones that knew her best, knew she was feeling defeated. "I will be leading the first team down. In case you have all forgotten, I have the knowledge and research at my disposal as well as the personal experience to help the doctors already on Betazed to piece this all together. This is not about our sacrifices, this about an entire race that has been exposed to something deadly for no good reason. So, let me be perfectly clear in spelling out your orders because that is why you are here. To get a job done."

Lillian didn't know if they would all hate her or not for her next words, but she was tired of personal games. "Commander Bakel will keep in contact with everyone from the Fenris, working on her own tasks I have assigned to her up there, and making sure that everyone else is doing what they should be doing. Colonel Lucas and Lieutenant Gespard will be with the Marine Detachment, helping to search for the bomb, accompanied by Commander Sharpe who will be in charge of dismantling the bomb, and Lieutenant Garren and a team of her choosing who will help as well. As for Lieutenant Life, I will let her know what is going on and she will accompany me as I will need her assistance in research, as well as my CMO, Rothschild. Lieutenant Shields will be heading down to the planet to help to make sure this situation can be handled in a healthy emotional way--helping the other counselors down there already, as Betazed is home to many. Lieutenant Cross and Commander Janssen? PIck where your think your specialties are better served and you have my permission to do just that. From here on out you will all be taking orders from the personnel down there already that outrank you and you will follow them without question and with respect. Is everyone clear?"

Kalen sat in his chair near the end of the table. He was easily the least experienced and probably youngest person at this table, but he still felt that he needed to take part in this. Maybe that inexperience and his lack of a past with anyone but the short time he had had amongst his new friends in the crew would be an asset. He could serve as a liaison perhaps between the people who clearly hated one another. He listened to all of the conversations as everyone stated their opinions and he noticed a few things. First, that while his captain seemed to have an idea about the mission, everyone else on her staff thought differently than her. Second, that while no one seemed to get along, there was this unbearable tension in the room. It made him want to shout at them. To tell them how childish and destructive holding grudges was. He could understand Taylor's decision as a man, but he had no idea why everyone else was against the intelligence officer. And maybe he would never know. And that would be okay with him, he didn't need every iota of information on the ship. But when he decided to speak, he tried to make it as eloquent as he could to avoid showing his inexperience and naivety.

"Having been infected by the Cardassian virus before, would not Captain Crae have the most knowledge of both having to combat it in the field and the precautions to take against it? No offense Miss Shields, but I have no doubt in my mind about her ability to lead this team as a woman carrying a child. But my only worry stands with yours as well. While I would never doubt her decision making faculties, I have to ask, Captain. Is she right? Would these people being your people affect your judgement and emotions in the field? If you can look me in the eye and tell me that you can treat them with no more love or affection than any other sentient race in danger, then I will be behind you one hundred percent. I could serve as a go-between perhaps, for some of the more..passionate members of the team." He looked at the two men. While he respected Taylor greatly, someone had to be the glue that held the teams down on the planet together. He felt that he could do that. He would prove useful, that he promised himself.

After listening to her orders, knowing full well the severity of their situation. He was happy to be going with the marines. He would enjoy being in the field. He hadn't really ever had the opportunity before.

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thirty-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…"

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are--" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

"Stop it, both of you," Lillian said suddenly as she rose from the table and made it over to the two men, standing in between them.

In all reality they could take her easily--especially pregnant--even though she did have those psionic abilities of hers at her disposal. There was a time and a place for this, however, and this was not it. Lillian had no doubts in her mind that whatever respect that Captain Wierzbowski had for her was gone now considering how her MCO was acting. While Lillian got their past, no one else in the room did except for Marlo and Gabe a little bit.

"You, sit right there," Lillian told Taylor, pointing to the chair next to her, and then she looked at Lars and pointed to a chair across the table from Taylor. "You, sit there. I don't want any lip from either of you. This is about Betazed. There is a time and a place to talk to each other about this and believe me, I will be making both of you have that talk after this because I will not let Betazed fall because you two can't be in the same place together. What happened sucked and it shouldn't have happened, but right now we do not have the time to dwell on it."

Lillian took Taylor's hand that had been poking Lars in the chest and held it, letting their finger interlace even though that wasn't professional either. It was just that she needed to calm him down and she needed everyone to take a seat that hadn't sat down and she needed everyone to get to business. Lars and Taylor would talk about this later--she would force them to work it out if it was the last thing that she did.

Just for one moment Taylor thought of saying something but it was lost between a feeling of rage and the newly introduced peace that Lillian had introduced by her presence and touch. His nostrils flared but he nodded slowly. Instead of offering a rebuke Taylor just 'yes ma'am'ed in a rather defeated tone before sitting down and taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down. Yes, they would talk but not now...now was the time to prove Lars wrong.

"Captains, I apologize for my nature and can assure you it will not compromise our resolve in dealing with this situation. However if I may make a request to Captain Crae; if any intelligence uplink was to be used that its operator would be Ensign Pena. Lieutenant Commander Janssen may be too busy to offer his assistance with any strike force that I may have to command to deal with the second bomb sight."

When Lillian separated them, Lars grinned a sly grin. "Yes of course, ma'am," he said enthusiastically and made his way to the indicated chair. "You're right, after all. This is about the crisis on Betazed," he intoned loftily. As he sat, though, Lars gave the assembled officers a little shrug and a knowing smirk as if to say Marines, what can you do? and was sure that by the look of it, at least some of them agreed.

It seemed like everyone turned to look at him to see if he would have any objections to Taylor's request that Nayla handle the uplink, but instead Lars just nodded. "The colonel has an excellent idea there. I'd rather not spend my time fiddling with uplinks. I will actually be busy with assessing the overall situation, so if this ensign can handle the matter then by all means," he said with a casual wave of his hand. Magnanimous in victory as always, Lars old boy, he thought, and leaned back in his chair with a triumphant smile. Still, he made a mental note to check on this Ensign Pena to see if she was on the level.

"Both of you, shut up!" Marlo commanded. "I'm sick of your testosterone battle! The two of you will only speak if you have something useful to say that has to do with the current mission. That's an order."

"Right…well, unless there are any more personal matters to attend to, perhaps we could start this briefing someday," Captain Wierzbowski said gruffly, not the least bit amused by the little scene but more than a little intrigued by its causes.

"Certainly sir." said Taylor formally before glaring at Lars in what could have been described as brutally murderous. If a look could raise or lower the room's temperature then the entire briefing would be wearing cold weather gear. I'll show you what marines can do you pompous little twat..."Now before anyone suggests that some safety feature from some lab has accidentally failed and released a virus I suggest you scrub that now. This is an entirely hostile situation. Right now phasers are more useful than medical tricorders until the threat can be contained and eliminated. From primary reports a bomb was detonated carrying a pathogen used by the Cardassians to prevent telepaths gaining knowledge of their top secret facilities. First it restricts the use of such abilities before rendering those with them...well, dead. Symptoms include increase in thermal activity within the body, sweating, headaches before developing into immobilization and death. Races that do not possess telepathy or empathy are simply not effected but I can't rule out that they could commute it to those that would be. I've recommended to Captain Crae that anyone within the area of operations should be in hard EVA suits or armor to prevent contamination."

Taylor took a small breath before continuing. One thing was for sure, he didn't like to repeat himself. "Medical and science would be best suited to the needed research to combat the virus and come up with numbers of contingency plans should attempts to locate the second bomb fail. From what we've gathered a threat has been made about a second device using an airborne variant of the virus. We can't call their bluff in case it turns out to be genuine. Right now no demands have been made yet and the location has yet to be determined. Once we find it, it goes without saying; we need to be aggressive and precise in disarming it and disabling its creators."

"Full on has-mat suits is overkill, Mr. Lucas. We know the original virus targeted telepaths--however, I'm unsure if it could transmit to non telepaths--I haven't had much alone time with the original--and it was only transmitted through blood, so unless you're planning to perform a blood oath with someone who's infected..." Marlo trailed off, knowing she got her point across.

"I believe that a quarantine is definitely in order here, but the most important part is finding the bomb--Commander Sharpe is more than prepared to dismantle the bomb should we find it, and we must find it." Lillian explained, trying to figure out what she wanted to do next. "As to your request, Colonel Lucas, I believe you should leave the channel open for Ensign Pena and Lieutenant Cross as she is CIO and came to me with some of our information in the first place. What I want to know is what team members will be going down with the group that I am leading."

She had yet to tell Taylor that she was leading a group down at Captain Wierzbowski's suggestion. Lillian knew that Taylor wasn't going to be happy about it, but Lillian wanted to do her part in all of this and felt like she had to be part of the solution. Either way, she was a leader who liked to know her team and she wanted more than anything to get to know some of the people before they got in orbit of Betazed and beamed down.

"Commander Bakel will be on the bridge of the Fenris to keep me posted, and my Marines and my Engineers are ready, but Medical and Science are most important." Lillian said out loud.

"Person who created this virus is smart commander." replied Taylor flatly. "They'd know that whoever it was deployed against might find out that it kills just telepaths. So then they'd surmise that we'd separated infected telepaths from non-infected telepaths. They've said that they've got an aerosol version of the weapon and it might be designed to use non-telepaths as a carrier or the disease. Please tell me that you're not going to weigh up the dangers against your weak argument here...so what if it's transmittable by blood? A medic forgets to use a fresh IV then one more person is infected. When NBC warfare is in effect you can't take chances. You have to prepare for the what ifs."

Gabe sat in silence, his arms folded across his chest as the briefing continued. He almost smiled as Taylor gave Lars a dressing down but said nothing, he had too much on his mind at the minute.

"I agree with Colonel Lucas, when dealing with a virus like this we can't be too careful. We know the virus has been modifed to become airborne we have no idea what other changes have been made and given our timeline we don't really have the time to find out. But before I even think about that we need to find that bomb, so what's the plan on that one?"

"No offense Lieutenant Commander Sharpe, but I have an objection," Alyssa spoke, knowing full well that she was not exactly a medical officer and had no control over Captain Wierzbowski's decisions. "I'm sorry Captain Crae, but I believe it to be very unwise for you to lead a team. I know that this is your home planet and you want to help at all costs, but you need to remember that you've been infected by this virus before and you're with child now. The virus now on Betazed may not be the same virus, and we have no idea of the full capability it has. I'm against you leading a team, and will be stated in my report as such. Now, I have a request. One that I hope you, and Captain Wierzbowski will grant. I request to be as far away from Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen as possible."

Alyssa knew all too well that this request would not be granted, and her objection would be ignored. She decided to take a chance in front of everyone to state her objection and request, rather than to keep it to herself and possibly plan the death of Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen. She knew, from the reports, what had happen on the planet where Taylor was left for dead along with her cousin's account; which she believed more so than the reports.

Lars gave Alyssa an icy stare at that, but said nothing, only slowly typed something into his PADD. It was clear to him that the crew of the Fenris had been thoroughly infected by Taylor and his ideas, and that presented a problem. He would need to find some allies on the ship, but it seemed like no one at this briefing would do. A closer evaluation of the rest of the crew was in order. Frowning, he carefully set the PADD down on the table and folded his gloved hands in front of him as he gazed at Lillian now, still silent.

Lillian felt...embarrassed. She couldn't figure out what other emotions were swirling around in there but she knew for certain that she was embarrassed. Not a single one of her Senior Officers had been acting with any respect for authority except for Marlo, Kalen and Gabe, and Marissa and Marlena who had kept silent all this time. The moment Lars and Taylor started throwing quips at each other it had just shown the other officers that they could act like that and now Lillian knew whatever respect she had gained coming aboard the Mitterand had been lost.

She could just imagine the kind of reports that Captain Weirzbowski would be filing about her to Starfleet Command and she couldn't help but feel a bit defeated. She'd told K'Nok that she wasn't fit to run her own ship and she felt as though she had been incredibly right because she had failed...she didn't have a team that could work together and put personal issues aside when faced with a crisis. That was a clear indication of failed leadership. Now wasn't the time to feel sorry for herself, however, it was a time to assert herself.

"EVA suits will be mandatory for the group going after the bomb, however other than that I will not permit such measures as reports from Betazed don't show a mutation so far from the research I found on Baicephorus VII. Such extreme precautions will just alert the civilians into a panic and that is the last thing that we want." Lillian said in an authoritative voice, though she had a feeling that the ones that knew her best, knew she was feeling defeated. "I will be leading the first team down. In case you have all forgotten, I have the knowledge and research at my disposal as well as the personal experience to help the doctors already on Betazed to piece this all together. This is not about our sacrifices, this about an entire race that has been exposed to something deadly for no good reason. So, let me be perfectly clear in spelling out your orders because that is why you are here. To get a job done."

Lillian didn't know if they would all hate her or not for her next words, but she was tired of personal games. "Commander Bakel will keep in contact with everyone from the Fenris, working on her own tasks I have assigned to her up there, and making sure that everyone else is doing what they should be doing. Colonel Lucas and Lieutenant Gespard will be with the Marine Detachment, helping to search for the bomb, accompanied by Commander Sharpe who will be in charge of dismantling the bomb, and Lieutenant Garren and a team of her choosing who will help as well. As for Lieutenant Life, I will let her know what is going on and she will accompany me as I will need her assistance in research, as well as my CMO, Rothschild. Lieutenant Shields will be heading down to the planet to help to make sure this situation can be handled in a healthy emotional way--helping the other counselors down there already, as Betazed is home to many. Lieutenant Cross and Commander Janssen? PIck where your think your specialties are better served and you have my permission to do just that. From here on out you will all be taking orders from the personnel down there already that outrank you and you will follow them without question and with respect. Is everyone clear?"

Kalen sat in his chair near the end of the table. He was easily the least experienced and probably youngest person at this table, but he still felt that he needed to take part in this. Maybe that inexperience and his lack of a past with anyone but the short time he had had amongst his new friends in the crew would be an asset. He could serve as a liaison perhaps between the people who clearly hated one another. He listened to all of the conversations as everyone stated their opinions and he noticed a few things. First, that while his captain seemed to have an idea about the mission, everyone else on her staff thought differently than her. Second, that while no one seemed to get along, there was this unbearable tension in the room. It made him want to shout at them. To tell them how childish and destructive holding grudges was. He could understand Taylor's decision as a man, but he had no idea why everyone else was against the intelligence officer. And maybe he would never know. And that would be okay with him, he didn't need every iota of information on the ship. But when he decided to speak, he tried to make it as eloquent as he could to avoid showing his inexperience and naivety.

"Having been infected by the Cardassian virus before, would not Captain Crae have the most knowledge of both having to combat it in the field and the precautions to take against it? No offense Miss Shields, but I have no doubt in my mind about her ability to lead this team as a woman carrying a child. But my only worry stands with yours as well. While I would never doubt her decision making faculties, I have to ask, Captain. Is she right? Would these people being your people affect your judgement and emotions in the field? If you can look me in the eye and tell me that you can treat them with no more love or affection than any other sentient race in danger, then I will be behind you one hundred percent. I could serve as a go-between perhaps, for some of the more..passionate members of the team." He looked at the two men. While he respected Taylor greatly, someone had to be the glue that held the teams down on the planet together. He felt that he could do that. He would prove useful, that he promised himself.

After listening to her orders, knowing full well the severity of their situation. He was happy to be going with the marines. He would enjoy being in the field. He hadn't really ever had the opportunity before.

Captain Wierzbowski surprised everyone then by speaking. "Right. I think Captain Crae has just given us all the most level-headed course of action there, and based on that I would say that her connections to this world and her physical condition should not present a problem. Captain, your plan is approved and you are in charge of the initial team on the ground's actions until further notice."

Having hopefully silenced further objections to Lillian's plan, he then nodded to a stoic Vulcan woman in a Medical uniform sitting a few seats away from him, the Mitterand's CMO. "Doctor T'Lek will remain aboard for now, so she has access to the ship's medical equipment to use with whatever data you send up. The same goes for my science staff. The Mitt's labs have greater processing power, so we'll work off of whatever data you provide in the search for a treatment."

He sniffed then, and adjusted his collar. "As you said, we need to defer to Betazoid response teams already on-site, so I don't want to hear about anyone playing cowboy down there. Get the job done and get back to the ship. I'll assign personnel from those departments to supplement your team where needed, but other than that I like the plan you've provided, and I say do it."

Wierzbowski had given his implicit support to the less experienced Captain Crae, but also given her a career-making or breaking challenge: although both ships' crews were involved in this mission, it would be the Fenris' officers that would have the most immediate initial impact on the ground. If they succeeded then all would be well, if they struggled then the Mitterand's more experienced personnel stood ready to jump in, but either way it would be a defining test of the newly formed crew and its captain in the eyes of Starfleet Command. Whether he did this to give Lillian a chance to prove herself or merely to cover his own ass was known only to the older captain, who now eyed the assembled officers intently to listen for any further comments.

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thirty-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…"

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are--" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

"Stop it, both of you," Lillian said suddenly as she rose from the table and made it over to the two men, standing in between them.

In all reality they could take her easily--especially pregnant--even though she did have those psionic abilities of hers at her disposal. There was a time and a place for this, however, and this was not it. Lillian had no doubts in her mind that whatever respect that Captain Wierzbowski had for her was gone now considering how her MCO was acting. While Lillian got their past, no one else in the room did except for Marlo and Gabe a little bit.

"You, sit right there," Lillian told Taylor, pointing to the chair next to her, and then she looked at Lars and pointed to a chair across the table from Taylor. "You, sit there. I don't want any lip from either of you. This is about Betazed. There is a time and a place to talk to each other about this and believe me, I will be making both of you have that talk after this because I will not let Betazed fall because you two can't be in the same place together. What happened sucked and it shouldn't have happened, but right now we do not have the time to dwell on it."

Lillian took Taylor's hand that had been poking Lars in the chest and held it, letting their finger interlace even though that wasn't professional either. It was just that she needed to calm him down and she needed everyone to take a seat that hadn't sat down and she needed everyone to get to business. Lars and Taylor would talk about this later--she would force them to work it out if it was the last thing that she did.

Just for one moment Taylor thought of saying something but it was lost between a feeling of rage and the newly introduced peace that Lillian had introduced by her presence and touch. His nostrils flared but he nodded slowly. Instead of offering a rebuke Taylor just 'yes ma'am'ed in a rather defeated tone before sitting down and taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down. Yes, they would talk but not now...now was the time to prove Lars wrong.

"Captains, I apologize for my nature and can assure you it will not compromise our resolve in dealing with this situation. However if I may make a request to Captain Crae; if any intelligence uplink was to be used that its operator would be Ensign Pena. Lieutenant Commander Janssen may be too busy to offer his assistance with any strike force that I may have to command to deal with the second bomb sight."

When Lillian separated them, Lars grinned a sly grin. "Yes of course, ma'am," he said enthusiastically and made his way to the indicated chair. "You're right, after all. This is about the crisis on Betazed," he intoned loftily. As he sat, though, Lars gave the assembled officers a little shrug and a knowing smirk as if to say Marines, what can you do? and was sure that by the look of it, at least some of them agreed.

It seemed like everyone turned to look at him to see if he would have any objections to Taylor's request that Nayla handle the uplink, but instead Lars just nodded. "The colonel has an excellent idea there. I'd rather not spend my time fiddling with uplinks. I will actually be busy with assessing the overall situation, so if this ensign can handle the matter then by all means," he said with a casual wave of his hand. Magnanimous in victory as always, Lars old boy, he thought, and leaned back in his chair with a triumphant smile. Still, he made a mental note to check on this Ensign Pena to see if she was on the level.

"Both of you, shut up!" Marlo commanded. "I'm sick of your testosterone battle! The two of you will only speak if you have something useful to say that has to do with the current mission. That's an order."

"Right…well, unless there are any more personal matters to attend to, perhaps we could start this briefing someday," Captain Wierzbowski said gruffly, not the least bit amused by the little scene but more than a little intrigued by its causes.

"Certainly sir." said Taylor formally before glaring at Lars in what could have been described as brutally murderous. If a look could raise or lower the room's temperature then the entire briefing would be wearing cold weather gear. I'll show you what marines can do you pompous little twat..."Now before anyone suggests that some safety feature from some lab has accidentally failed and released a virus I suggest you scrub that now. This is an entirely hostile situation. Right now phasers are more useful than medical tricorders until the threat can be contained and eliminated. From primary reports a bomb was detonated carrying a pathogen used by the Cardassians to prevent telepaths gaining knowledge of their top secret facilities. First it restricts the use of such abilities before rendering those with them...well, dead. Symptoms include increase in thermal activity within the body, sweating, headaches before developing into immobilization and death. Races that do not possess telepathy or empathy are simply not effected but I can't rule out that they could commute it to those that would be. I've recommended to Captain Crae that anyone within the area of operations should be in hard EVA suits or armor to prevent contamination."

Taylor took a small breath before continuing. One thing was for sure, he didn't like to repeat himself. "Medical and science would be best suited to the needed research to combat the virus and come up with numbers of contingency plans should attempts to locate the second bomb fail. From what we've gathered a threat has been made about a second device using an airborne variant of the virus. We can't call their bluff in case it turns out to be genuine. Right now no demands have been made yet and the location has yet to be determined. Once we find it, it goes without saying; we need to be aggressive and precise in disarming it and disabling its creators."

"Full on has-mat suits is overkill, Mr. Lucas. We know the original virus targeted telepaths--however, I'm unsure if it could transmit to non telepaths--I haven't had much alone time with the original--and it was only transmitted through blood, so unless you're planning to perform a blood oath with someone who's infected..." Marlo trailed off, knowing she got her point across.

"I believe that a quarantine is definitely in order here, but the most important part is finding the bomb--Commander Sharpe is more than prepared to dismantle the bomb should we find it, and we must find it." Lillian explained, trying to figure out what she wanted to do next. "As to your request, Colonel Lucas, I believe you should leave the channel open for Ensign Pena and Lieutenant Cross as she is CIO and came to me with some of our information in the first place. What I want to know is what team members will be going down with the group that I am leading."

She had yet to tell Taylor that she was leading a group down at Captain Wierzbowski's suggestion. Lillian knew that Taylor wasn't going to be happy about it, but Lillian wanted to do her part in all of this and felt like she had to be part of the solution. Either way, she was a leader who liked to know her team and she wanted more than anything to get to know some of the people before they got in orbit of Betazed and beamed down.

"Commander Bakel will be on the bridge of the Fenris to keep me posted, and my Marines and my Engineers are ready, but Medical and Science are most important." Lillian said out loud.

"Person who created this virus is smart commander." replied Taylor flatly. "They'd know that whoever it was deployed against might find out that it kills just telepaths. So then they'd surmise that we'd separated infected telepaths from non-infected telepaths. They've said that they've got an aerosol version of the weapon and it might be designed to use non-telepaths as a carrier or the disease. Please tell me that you're not going to weigh up the dangers against your weak argument here...so what if it's transmittable by blood? A medic forgets to use a fresh IV then one more person is infected. When NBC warfare is in effect you can't take chances. You have to prepare for the what ifs."

Gabe sat in silence, his arms folded across his chest as the briefing continued. He almost smiled as Taylor gave Lars a dressing down but said nothing, he had too much on his mind at the minute.

"I agree with Colonel Lucas, when dealing with a virus like this we can't be too careful. We know the virus has been modifed to become airborne we have no idea what other changes have been made and given our timeline we don't really have the time to find out. But before I even think about that we need to find that bomb, so what's the plan on that one?"

"No offense Lieutenant Commander Sharpe, but I have an objection," Alyssa spoke, knowing full well that she was not exactly a medical officer and had no control over Captain Wierzbowski's decisions. "I'm sorry Captain Crae, but I believe it to be very unwise for you to lead a team. I know that this is your home planet and you want to help at all costs, but you need to remember that you've been infected by this virus before and you're with child now. The virus now on Betazed may not be the same virus, and we have no idea of the full capability it has. I'm against you leading a team, and will be stated in my report as such. Now, I have a request. One that I hope you, and Captain Wierzbowski will grant. I request to be as far away from Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen as possible."

Alyssa knew all too well that this request would not be granted, and her objection would be ignored. She decided to take a chance in front of everyone to state her objection and request, rather than to keep it to herself and possibly plan the death of Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen. She knew, from the reports, what had happen on the planet where Taylor was left for dead along with her cousin's account; which she believed more so than the reports.

Lars gave Alyssa an icy stare at that, but said nothing, only slowly typed something into his PADD. It was clear to him that the crew of the Fenris had been thoroughly infected by Taylor and his ideas, and that presented a problem. He would need to find some allies on the ship, but it seemed like no one at this briefing would do. A closer evaluation of the rest of the crew was in order. Frowning, he carefully set the PADD down on the table and folded his gloved hands in front of him as he gazed at Lillian now, still silent.

Lillian felt...embarrassed. She couldn't figure out what other emotions were swirling around in there but she knew for certain that she was embarrassed. Not a single one of her Senior Officers had been acting with any respect for authority except for Marlo, Kalen and Gabe, and Marissa and Marlena who had kept silent all this time. The moment Lars and Taylor started throwing quips at each other it had just shown the other officers that they could act like that and now Lillian knew whatever respect she had gained coming aboard the Mitterand had been lost.

She could just imagine the kind of reports that Captain Weirzbowski would be filing about her to Starfleet Command and she couldn't help but feel a bit defeated. She'd told K'Nok that she wasn't fit to run her own ship and she felt as though she had been incredibly right because she had failed...she didn't have a team that could work together and put personal issues aside when faced with a crisis. That was a clear indication of failed leadership. Now wasn't the time to feel sorry for herself, however, it was a time to assert herself.

"EVA suits will be mandatory for the group going after the bomb, however other than that I will not permit such measures as reports from Betazed don't show a mutation so far from the research I found on Baicephorus VII. Such extreme precautions will just alert the civilians into a panic and that is the last thing that we want." Lillian said in an authoritative voice, though she had a feeling that the ones that knew her best, knew she was feeling defeated. "I will be leading the first team down. In case you have all forgotten, I have the knowledge and research at my disposal as well as the personal experience to help the doctors already on Betazed to piece this all together. This is not about our sacrifices, this about an entire race that has been exposed to something deadly for no good reason. So, let me be perfectly clear in spelling out your orders because that is why you are here. To get a job done."

Lillian didn't know if they would all hate her or not for her next words, but she was tired of personal games. "Commander Bakel will keep in contact with everyone from the Fenris, working on her own tasks I have assigned to her up there, and making sure that everyone else is doing what they should be doing. Colonel Lucas and Lieutenant Gespard will be with the Marine Detachment, helping to search for the bomb, accompanied by Commander Sharpe who will be in charge of dismantling the bomb, and Lieutenant Garren and a team of her choosing who will help as well. As for Lieutenant Life, I will let her know what is going on and she will accompany me as I will need her assistance in research, as well as my CMO, Rothschild. Lieutenant Shields will be heading down to the planet to help to make sure this situation can be handled in a healthy emotional way--helping the other counselors down there already, as Betazed is home to many. Lieutenant Cross and Commander Janssen? PIck where your think your specialties are better served and you have my permission to do just that. From here on out you will all be taking orders from the personnel down there already that outrank you and you will follow them without question and with respect. Is everyone clear?"

Kalen sat in his chair near the end of the table. He was easily the least experienced and probably youngest person at this table, but he still felt that he needed to take part in this. Maybe that inexperience and his lack of a past with anyone but the short time he had had amongst his new friends in the crew would be an asset. He could serve as a liaison perhaps between the people who clearly hated one another. He listened to all of the conversations as everyone stated their opinions and he noticed a few things. First, that while his captain seemed to have an idea about the mission, everyone else on her staff thought differently than her. Second, that while no one seemed to get along, there was this unbearable tension in the room. It made him want to shout at them. To tell them how childish and destructive holding grudges was. He could understand Taylor's decision as a man, but he had no idea why everyone else was against the intelligence officer. And maybe he would never know. And that would be okay with him, he didn't need every iota of information on the ship. But when he decided to speak, he tried to make it as eloquent as he could to avoid showing his inexperience and naivety.

"Having been infected by the Cardassian virus before, would not Captain Crae have the most knowledge of both having to combat it in the field and the precautions to take against it? No offense Miss Shields, but I have no doubt in my mind about her ability to lead this team as a woman carrying a child. But my only worry stands with yours as well. While I would never doubt her decision making faculties, I have to ask, Captain. Is she right? Would these people being your people affect your judgement and emotions in the field? If you can look me in the eye and tell me that you can treat them with no more love or affection than any other sentient race in danger, then I will be behind you one hundred percent. I could serve as a go-between perhaps, for some of the more..passionate members of the team." He looked at the two men. While he respected Taylor greatly, someone had to be the glue that held the teams down on the planet together. He felt that he could do that. He would prove useful, that he promised himself.

After listening to her orders, knowing full well the severity of their situation. He was happy to be going with the marines. He would enjoy being in the field. He hadn't really ever had the opportunity before.

Captain Wierzbowski surprised everyone then by speaking. "Right. I think Captain Crae has just given us all the most level-headed course of action there, and based on that I would say that her connections to this world and her physical condition should not present a problem. Captain, your plan is approved and you are in charge of the initial team on the ground's actions until further notice."

Having hopefully silenced further objections to Lillian's plan, he then nodded to a stoic Vulcan woman in a Medical uniform sitting a few seats away from him, the Mitterand's CMO. "Doctor T'Lek will remain aboard for now, so she has access to the ship's medical equipment to use with whatever data you send up. The same goes for my science staff. The Mitt's labs have greater processing power, so we'll work off of whatever data you provide in the search for a treatment."

He sniffed then, and adjusted his collar. "As you said, we need to defer to Betazoid response teams already on-site, so I don't want to hear about anyone playing cowboy down there. Get the job done and get back to the ship. I'll assign personnel from those departments to supplement your team where needed, but other than that I like the plan you've provided, and I say do it."

Wierzbowski had given his implicit support to the less experienced Captain Crae, but also given her a career-making or breaking challenge: although both ships' crews were involved in this mission, it would be the Fenris' officers that would have the most immediate initial impact on the ground. If they succeeded then all would be well, if they struggled then the Mitterand's more experienced personnel stood ready to jump in, but either way it would be a defining test of the newly formed crew and its captain in the eyes of Starfleet Command. Whether he did this to give Lillian a chance to prove herself or merely to cover his own ass was known only to the older captain, who now eyed the assembled officers intently to listen for any further comments.

Marlo sighed. All this arguing was getting them nowhere. She was not going to stop anyone who wanted extra assurance that they weren't going to get sick, from wearing an EVA suit. If they wanted to wear the bulky and awkward things--to each their own.

"I'll be in the science labs if anyone needs me." She told them all, standing up from the briefing table.

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thirty-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…"

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are--" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

"Stop it, both of you," Lillian said suddenly as she rose from the table and made it over to the two men, standing in between them.

In all reality they could take her easily--especially pregnant--even though she did have those psionic abilities of hers at her disposal. There was a time and a place for this, however, and this was not it. Lillian had no doubts in her mind that whatever respect that Captain Wierzbowski had for her was gone now considering how her MCO was acting. While Lillian got their past, no one else in the room did except for Marlo and Gabe a little bit.

"You, sit right there," Lillian told Taylor, pointing to the chair next to her, and then she looked at Lars and pointed to a chair across the table from Taylor. "You, sit there. I don't want any lip from either of you. This is about Betazed. There is a time and a place to talk to each other about this and believe me, I will be making both of you have that talk after this because I will not let Betazed fall because you two can't be in the same place together. What happened sucked and it shouldn't have happened, but right now we do not have the time to dwell on it."

Lillian took Taylor's hand that had been poking Lars in the chest and held it, letting their finger interlace even though that wasn't professional either. It was just that she needed to calm him down and she needed everyone to take a seat that hadn't sat down and she needed everyone to get to business. Lars and Taylor would talk about this later--she would force them to work it out if it was the last thing that she did.

Just for one moment Taylor thought of saying something but it was lost between a feeling of rage and the newly introduced peace that Lillian had introduced by her presence and touch. His nostrils flared but he nodded slowly. Instead of offering a rebuke Taylor just 'yes ma'am'ed in a rather defeated tone before sitting down and taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down. Yes, they would talk but not now...now was the time to prove Lars wrong.

"Captains, I apologize for my nature and can assure you it will not compromise our resolve in dealing with this situation. However if I may make a request to Captain Crae; if any intelligence uplink was to be used that its operator would be Ensign Pena. Lieutenant Commander Janssen may be too busy to offer his assistance with any strike force that I may have to command to deal with the second bomb sight."

When Lillian separated them, Lars grinned a sly grin. "Yes of course, ma'am," he said enthusiastically and made his way to the indicated chair. "You're right, after all. This is about the crisis on Betazed," he intoned loftily. As he sat, though, Lars gave the assembled officers a little shrug and a knowing smirk as if to say Marines, what can you do? and was sure that by the look of it, at least some of them agreed.

It seemed like everyone turned to look at him to see if he would have any objections to Taylor's request that Nayla handle the uplink, but instead Lars just nodded. "The colonel has an excellent idea there. I'd rather not spend my time fiddling with uplinks. I will actually be busy with assessing the overall situation, so if this ensign can handle the matter then by all means," he said with a casual wave of his hand. Magnanimous in victory as always, Lars old boy, he thought, and leaned back in his chair with a triumphant smile. Still, he made a mental note to check on this Ensign Pena to see if she was on the level.

"Both of you, shut up!" Marlo commanded. "I'm sick of your testosterone battle! The two of you will only speak if you have something useful to say that has to do with the current mission. That's an order."

"Right…well, unless there are any more personal matters to attend to, perhaps we could start this briefing someday," Captain Wierzbowski said gruffly, not the least bit amused by the little scene but more than a little intrigued by its causes.

"Certainly sir." said Taylor formally before glaring at Lars in what could have been described as brutally murderous. If a look could raise or lower the room's temperature then the entire briefing would be wearing cold weather gear. I'll show you what marines can do you pompous little twat..."Now before anyone suggests that some safety feature from some lab has accidentally failed and released a virus I suggest you scrub that now. This is an entirely hostile situation. Right now phasers are more useful than medical tricorders until the threat can be contained and eliminated. From primary reports a bomb was detonated carrying a pathogen used by the Cardassians to prevent telepaths gaining knowledge of their top secret facilities. First it restricts the use of such abilities before rendering those with them...well, dead. Symptoms include increase in thermal activity within the body, sweating, headaches before developing into immobilization and death. Races that do not possess telepathy or empathy are simply not effected but I can't rule out that they could commute it to those that would be. I've recommended to Captain Crae that anyone within the area of operations should be in hard EVA suits or armor to prevent contamination."

Taylor took a small breath before continuing. One thing was for sure, he didn't like to repeat himself. "Medical and science would be best suited to the needed research to combat the virus and come up with numbers of contingency plans should attempts to locate the second bomb fail. From what we've gathered a threat has been made about a second device using an airborne variant of the virus. We can't call their bluff in case it turns out to be genuine. Right now no demands have been made yet and the location has yet to be determined. Once we find it, it goes without saying; we need to be aggressive and precise in disarming it and disabling its creators."

"Full on has-mat suits is overkill, Mr. Lucas. We know the original virus targeted telepaths--however, I'm unsure if it could transmit to non telepaths--I haven't had much alone time with the original--and it was only transmitted through blood, so unless you're planning to perform a blood oath with someone who's infected..." Marlo trailed off, knowing she got her point across.

"I believe that a quarantine is definitely in order here, but the most important part is finding the bomb--Commander Sharpe is more than prepared to dismantle the bomb should we find it, and we must find it." Lillian explained, trying to figure out what she wanted to do next. "As to your request, Colonel Lucas, I believe you should leave the channel open for Ensign Pena and Lieutenant Cross as she is CIO and came to me with some of our information in the first place. What I want to know is what team members will be going down with the group that I am leading."

She had yet to tell Taylor that she was leading a group down at Captain Wierzbowski's suggestion. Lillian knew that Taylor wasn't going to be happy about it, but Lillian wanted to do her part in all of this and felt like she had to be part of the solution. Either way, she was a leader who liked to know her team and she wanted more than anything to get to know some of the people before they got in orbit of Betazed and beamed down.

"Commander Bakel will be on the bridge of the Fenris to keep me posted, and my Marines and my Engineers are ready, but Medical and Science are most important." Lillian said out loud.

"Person who created this virus is smart commander." replied Taylor flatly. "They'd know that whoever it was deployed against might find out that it kills just telepaths. So then they'd surmise that we'd separated infected telepaths from non-infected telepaths. They've said that they've got an aerosol version of the weapon and it might be designed to use non-telepaths as a carrier or the disease. Please tell me that you're not going to weigh up the dangers against your weak argument here...so what if it's transmittable by blood? A medic forgets to use a fresh IV then one more person is infected. When NBC warfare is in effect you can't take chances. You have to prepare for the what ifs."

Gabe sat in silence, his arms folded across his chest as the briefing continued. He almost smiled as Taylor gave Lars a dressing down but said nothing, he had too much on his mind at the minute.

"I agree with Colonel Lucas, when dealing with a virus like this we can't be too careful. We know the virus has been modifed to become airborne we have no idea what other changes have been made and given our timeline we don't really have the time to find out. But before I even think about that we need to find that bomb, so what's the plan on that one?"

"No offense Lieutenant Commander Sharpe, but I have an objection," Alyssa spoke, knowing full well that she was not exactly a medical officer and had no control over Captain Wierzbowski's decisions. "I'm sorry Captain Crae, but I believe it to be very unwise for you to lead a team. I know that this is your home planet and you want to help at all costs, but you need to remember that you've been infected by this virus before and you're with child now. The virus now on Betazed may not be the same virus, and we have no idea of the full capability it has. I'm against you leading a team, and will be stated in my report as such. Now, I have a request. One that I hope you, and Captain Wierzbowski will grant. I request to be as far away from Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen as possible."

Alyssa knew all too well that this request would not be granted, and her objection would be ignored. She decided to take a chance in front of everyone to state her objection and request, rather than to keep it to herself and possibly plan the death of Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen. She knew, from the reports, what had happen on the planet where Taylor was left for dead along with her cousin's account; which she believed more so than the reports.

Lars gave Alyssa an icy stare at that, but said nothing, only slowly typed something into his PADD. It was clear to him that the crew of the Fenris had been thoroughly infected by Taylor and his ideas, and that presented a problem. He would need to find some allies on the ship, but it seemed like no one at this briefing would do. A closer evaluation of the rest of the crew was in order. Frowning, he carefully set the PADD down on the table and folded his gloved hands in front of him as he gazed at Lillian now, still silent.

Lillian felt...embarrassed. She couldn't figure out what other emotions were swirling around in there but she knew for certain that she was embarrassed. Not a single one of her Senior Officers had been acting with any respect for authority except for Marlo, Kalen and Gabe, and Marissa and Marlena who had kept silent all this time. The moment Lars and Taylor started throwing quips at each other it had just shown the other officers that they could act like that and now Lillian knew whatever respect she had gained coming aboard the Mitterand had been lost.

She could just imagine the kind of reports that Captain Weirzbowski would be filing about her to Starfleet Command and she couldn't help but feel a bit defeated. She'd told K'Nok that she wasn't fit to run her own ship and she felt as though she had been incredibly right because she had failed...she didn't have a team that could work together and put personal issues aside when faced with a crisis. That was a clear indication of failed leadership. Now wasn't the time to feel sorry for herself, however, it was a time to assert herself.

"EVA suits will be mandatory for the group going after the bomb, however other than that I will not permit such measures as reports from Betazed don't show a mutation so far from the research I found on Baicephorus VII. Such extreme precautions will just alert the civilians into a panic and that is the last thing that we want." Lillian said in an authoritative voice, though she had a feeling that the ones that knew her best, knew she was feeling defeated. "I will be leading the first team down. In case you have all forgotten, I have the knowledge and research at my disposal as well as the personal experience to help the doctors already on Betazed to piece this all together. This is not about our sacrifices, this about an entire race that has been exposed to something deadly for no good reason. So, let me be perfectly clear in spelling out your orders because that is why you are here. To get a job done."

Lillian didn't know if they would all hate her or not for her next words, but she was tired of personal games. "Commander Bakel will keep in contact with everyone from the Fenris, working on her own tasks I have assigned to her up there, and making sure that everyone else is doing what they should be doing. Colonel Lucas and Lieutenant Gespard will be with the Marine Detachment, helping to search for the bomb, accompanied by Commander Sharpe who will be in charge of dismantling the bomb, and Lieutenant Garren and a team of her choosing who will help as well. As for Lieutenant Life, I will let her know what is going on and she will accompany me as I will need her assistance in research, as well as my CMO, Rothschild. Lieutenant Shields will be heading down to the planet to help to make sure this situation can be handled in a healthy emotional way--helping the other counselors down there already, as Betazed is home to many. Lieutenant Cross and Commander Janssen? PIck where your think your specialties are better served and you have my permission to do just that. From here on out you will all be taking orders from the personnel down there already that outrank you and you will follow them without question and with respect. Is everyone clear?"

Kalen sat in his chair near the end of the table. He was easily the least experienced and probably youngest person at this table, but he still felt that he needed to take part in this. Maybe that inexperience and his lack of a past with anyone but the short time he had had amongst his new friends in the crew would be an asset. He could serve as a liaison perhaps between the people who clearly hated one another. He listened to all of the conversations as everyone stated their opinions and he noticed a few things. First, that while his captain seemed to have an idea about the mission, everyone else on her staff thought differently than her. Second, that while no one seemed to get along, there was this unbearable tension in the room. It made him want to shout at them. To tell them how childish and destructive holding grudges was. He could understand Taylor's decision as a man, but he had no idea why everyone else was against the intelligence officer. And maybe he would never know. And that would be okay with him, he didn't need every iota of information on the ship. But when he decided to speak, he tried to make it as eloquent as he could to avoid showing his inexperience and naivety.

"Having been infected by the Cardassian virus before, would not Captain Crae have the most knowledge of both having to combat it in the field and the precautions to take against it? No offense Miss Shields, but I have no doubt in my mind about her ability to lead this team as a woman carrying a child. But my only worry stands with yours as well. While I would never doubt her decision making faculties, I have to ask, Captain. Is she right? Would these people being your people affect your judgement and emotions in the field? If you can look me in the eye and tell me that you can treat them with no more love or affection than any other sentient race in danger, then I will be behind you one hundred percent. I could serve as a go-between perhaps, for some of the more..passionate members of the team." He looked at the two men. While he respected Taylor greatly, someone had to be the glue that held the teams down on the planet together. He felt that he could do that. He would prove useful, that he promised himself.

After listening to her orders, knowing full well the severity of their situation. He was happy to be going with the marines. He would enjoy being in the field. He hadn't really ever had the opportunity before.

Captain Wierzbowski surprised everyone then by speaking. "Right. I think Captain Crae has just given us all the most level-headed course of action there, and based on that I would say that her connections to this world and her physical condition should not present a problem. Captain, your plan is approved and you are in charge of the initial team on the ground's actions until further notice."

Having hopefully silenced further objections to Lillian's plan, he then nodded to a stoic Vulcan woman in a Medical uniform sitting a few seats away from him, the Mitterand's CMO. "Doctor T'Lek will remain aboard for now, so she has access to the ship's medical equipment to use with whatever data you send up. The same goes for my science staff. The Mitt's labs have greater processing power, so we'll work off of whatever data you provide in the search for a treatment."

He sniffed then, and adjusted his collar. "As you said, we need to defer to Betazoid response teams already on-site, so I don't want to hear about anyone playing cowboy down there. Get the job done and get back to the ship. I'll assign personnel from those departments to supplement your team where needed, but other than that I like the plan you've provided, and I say do it."

Wierzbowski had given his implicit support to the less experienced Captain Crae, but also given her a career-making or breaking challenge: although both ships' crews were involved in this mission, it would be the Fenris' officers that would have the most immediate initial impact on the ground. If they succeeded then all would be well, if they struggled then the Mitterand's more experienced personnel stood ready to jump in, but either way it would be a defining test of the newly formed crew and its captain in the eyes of Starfleet Command. Whether he did this to give Lillian a chance to prove herself or merely to cover his own ass was known only to the older captain, who now eyed the assembled officers intently to listen for any further comments.

Marlo sighed. All this arguing was getting them nowhere. She was not going to stop anyone who wanted extra assurance that they weren't going to get sick, from wearing an EVA suit. If they wanted to wear the bulky and awkward things--to each their own.

"I'll be in the science labs if anyone needs me." She told them all, standing up from the briefing table.

Alyssa got up from the table. "I'll be in my office, disobeying orders. Excuse me while I go find a different ship to be on. Lieutenant Commander Janssen, I'm sorry for my request. I was completely out of line, and I'm sorry. Please forgive me for missing judging you. Captain Crae, it was an honor to serve with you. Captain Wierzbowski, I'm sorry for my ruddiness. I must be frank: my professional opinion has been ignored and will be continued to be ignored on this mission. I'm unfit for duty. Please excuse me."

Alyssa didn't wait for anyone to respond, she just left.

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thirty-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…"

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are--" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

"Stop it, both of you," Lillian said suddenly as she rose from the table and made it over to the two men, standing in between them.

In all reality they could take her easily--especially pregnant--even though she did have those psionic abilities of hers at her disposal. There was a time and a place for this, however, and this was not it. Lillian had no doubts in her mind that whatever respect that Captain Wierzbowski had for her was gone now considering how her MCO was acting. While Lillian got their past, no one else in the room did except for Marlo and Gabe a little bit.

"You, sit right there," Lillian told Taylor, pointing to the chair next to her, and then she looked at Lars and pointed to a chair across the table from Taylor. "You, sit there. I don't want any lip from either of you. This is about Betazed. There is a time and a place to talk to each other about this and believe me, I will be making both of you have that talk after this because I will not let Betazed fall because you two can't be in the same place together. What happened sucked and it shouldn't have happened, but right now we do not have the time to dwell on it."

Lillian took Taylor's hand that had been poking Lars in the chest and held it, letting their finger interlace even though that wasn't professional either. It was just that she needed to calm him down and she needed everyone to take a seat that hadn't sat down and she needed everyone to get to business. Lars and Taylor would talk about this later--she would force them to work it out if it was the last thing that she did.

Just for one moment Taylor thought of saying something but it was lost between a feeling of rage and the newly introduced peace that Lillian had introduced by her presence and touch. His nostrils flared but he nodded slowly. Instead of offering a rebuke Taylor just 'yes ma'am'ed in a rather defeated tone before sitting down and taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down. Yes, they would talk but not now...now was the time to prove Lars wrong.

"Captains, I apologize for my nature and can assure you it will not compromise our resolve in dealing with this situation. However if I may make a request to Captain Crae; if any intelligence uplink was to be used that its operator would be Ensign Pena. Lieutenant Commander Janssen may be too busy to offer his assistance with any strike force that I may have to command to deal with the second bomb sight."

When Lillian separated them, Lars grinned a sly grin. "Yes of course, ma'am," he said enthusiastically and made his way to the indicated chair. "You're right, after all. This is about the crisis on Betazed," he intoned loftily. As he sat, though, Lars gave the assembled officers a little shrug and a knowing smirk as if to say Marines, what can you do? and was sure that by the look of it, at least some of them agreed.

It seemed like everyone turned to look at him to see if he would have any objections to Taylor's request that Nayla handle the uplink, but instead Lars just nodded. "The colonel has an excellent idea there. I'd rather not spend my time fiddling with uplinks. I will actually be busy with assessing the overall situation, so if this ensign can handle the matter then by all means," he said with a casual wave of his hand. Magnanimous in victory as always, Lars old boy, he thought, and leaned back in his chair with a triumphant smile. Still, he made a mental note to check on this Ensign Pena to see if she was on the level.

"Both of you, shut up!" Marlo commanded. "I'm sick of your testosterone battle! The two of you will only speak if you have something useful to say that has to do with the current mission. That's an order."

"Right…well, unless there are any more personal matters to attend to, perhaps we could start this briefing someday," Captain Wierzbowski said gruffly, not the least bit amused by the little scene but more than a little intrigued by its causes.

"Certainly sir." said Taylor formally before glaring at Lars in what could have been described as brutally murderous. If a look could raise or lower the room's temperature then the entire briefing would be wearing cold weather gear. I'll show you what marines can do you pompous little twat..."Now before anyone suggests that some safety feature from some lab has accidentally failed and released a virus I suggest you scrub that now. This is an entirely hostile situation. Right now phasers are more useful than medical tricorders until the threat can be contained and eliminated. From primary reports a bomb was detonated carrying a pathogen used by the Cardassians to prevent telepaths gaining knowledge of their top secret facilities. First it restricts the use of such abilities before rendering those with them...well, dead. Symptoms include increase in thermal activity within the body, sweating, headaches before developing into immobilization and death. Races that do not possess telepathy or empathy are simply not effected but I can't rule out that they could commute it to those that would be. I've recommended to Captain Crae that anyone within the area of operations should be in hard EVA suits or armor to prevent contamination."

Taylor took a small breath before continuing. One thing was for sure, he didn't like to repeat himself. "Medical and science would be best suited to the needed research to combat the virus and come up with numbers of contingency plans should attempts to locate the second bomb fail. From what we've gathered a threat has been made about a second device using an airborne variant of the virus. We can't call their bluff in case it turns out to be genuine. Right now no demands have been made yet and the location has yet to be determined. Once we find it, it goes without saying; we need to be aggressive and precise in disarming it and disabling its creators."

"Full on has-mat suits is overkill, Mr. Lucas. We know the original virus targeted telepaths--however, I'm unsure if it could transmit to non telepaths--I haven't had much alone time with the original--and it was only transmitted through blood, so unless you're planning to perform a blood oath with someone who's infected..." Marlo trailed off, knowing she got her point across.

"I believe that a quarantine is definitely in order here, but the most important part is finding the bomb--Commander Sharpe is more than prepared to dismantle the bomb should we find it, and we must find it." Lillian explained, trying to figure out what she wanted to do next. "As to your request, Colonel Lucas, I believe you should leave the channel open for Ensign Pena and Lieutenant Cross as she is CIO and came to me with some of our information in the first place. What I want to know is what team members will be going down with the group that I am leading."

She had yet to tell Taylor that she was leading a group down at Captain Wierzbowski's suggestion. Lillian knew that Taylor wasn't going to be happy about it, but Lillian wanted to do her part in all of this and felt like she had to be part of the solution. Either way, she was a leader who liked to know her team and she wanted more than anything to get to know some of the people before they got in orbit of Betazed and beamed down.

"Commander Bakel will be on the bridge of the Fenris to keep me posted, and my Marines and my Engineers are ready, but Medical and Science are most important." Lillian said out loud.

"Person who created this virus is smart commander." replied Taylor flatly. "They'd know that whoever it was deployed against might find out that it kills just telepaths. So then they'd surmise that we'd separated infected telepaths from non-infected telepaths. They've said that they've got an aerosol version of the weapon and it might be designed to use non-telepaths as a carrier or the disease. Please tell me that you're not going to weigh up the dangers against your weak argument here...so what if it's transmittable by blood? A medic forgets to use a fresh IV then one more person is infected. When NBC warfare is in effect you can't take chances. You have to prepare for the what ifs."

Gabe sat in silence, his arms folded across his chest as the briefing continued. He almost smiled as Taylor gave Lars a dressing down but said nothing, he had too much on his mind at the minute.

"I agree with Colonel Lucas, when dealing with a virus like this we can't be too careful. We know the virus has been modifed to become airborne we have no idea what other changes have been made and given our timeline we don't really have the time to find out. But before I even think about that we need to find that bomb, so what's the plan on that one?"

"No offense Lieutenant Commander Sharpe, but I have an objection," Alyssa spoke, knowing full well that she was not exactly a medical officer and had no control over Captain Wierzbowski's decisions. "I'm sorry Captain Crae, but I believe it to be very unwise for you to lead a team. I know that this is your home planet and you want to help at all costs, but you need to remember that you've been infected by this virus before and you're with child now. The virus now on Betazed may not be the same virus, and we have no idea of the full capability it has. I'm against you leading a team, and will be stated in my report as such. Now, I have a request. One that I hope you, and Captain Wierzbowski will grant. I request to be as far away from Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen as possible."

Alyssa knew all too well that this request would not be granted, and her objection would be ignored. She decided to take a chance in front of everyone to state her objection and request, rather than to keep it to herself and possibly plan the death of Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen. She knew, from the reports, what had happen on the planet where Taylor was left for dead along with her cousin's account; which she believed more so than the reports.

Lars gave Alyssa an icy stare at that, but said nothing, only slowly typed something into his PADD. It was clear to him that the crew of the Fenris had been thoroughly infected by Taylor and his ideas, and that presented a problem. He would need to find some allies on the ship, but it seemed like no one at this briefing would do. A closer evaluation of the rest of the crew was in order. Frowning, he carefully set the PADD down on the table and folded his gloved hands in front of him as he gazed at Lillian now, still silent.

Lillian felt...embarrassed. She couldn't figure out what other emotions were swirling around in there but she knew for certain that she was embarrassed. Not a single one of her Senior Officers had been acting with any respect for authority except for Marlo, Kalen and Gabe, and Marissa and Marlena who had kept silent all this time. The moment Lars and Taylor started throwing quips at each other it had just shown the other officers that they could act like that and now Lillian knew whatever respect she had gained coming aboard the Mitterand had been lost.

She could just imagine the kind of reports that Captain Weirzbowski would be filing about her to Starfleet Command and she couldn't help but feel a bit defeated. She'd told K'Nok that she wasn't fit to run her own ship and she felt as though she had been incredibly right because she had failed...she didn't have a team that could work together and put personal issues aside when faced with a crisis. That was a clear indication of failed leadership. Now wasn't the time to feel sorry for herself, however, it was a time to assert herself.

"EVA suits will be mandatory for the group going after the bomb, however other than that I will not permit such measures as reports from Betazed don't show a mutation so far from the research I found on Baicephorus VII. Such extreme precautions will just alert the civilians into a panic and that is the last thing that we want." Lillian said in an authoritative voice, though she had a feeling that the ones that knew her best, knew she was feeling defeated. "I will be leading the first team down. In case you have all forgotten, I have the knowledge and research at my disposal as well as the personal experience to help the doctors already on Betazed to piece this all together. This is not about our sacrifices, this about an entire race that has been exposed to something deadly for no good reason. So, let me be perfectly clear in spelling out your orders because that is why you are here. To get a job done."

Lillian didn't know if they would all hate her or not for her next words, but she was tired of personal games. "Commander Bakel will keep in contact with everyone from the Fenris, working on her own tasks I have assigned to her up there, and making sure that everyone else is doing what they should be doing. Colonel Lucas and Lieutenant Gespard will be with the Marine Detachment, helping to search for the bomb, accompanied by Commander Sharpe who will be in charge of dismantling the bomb, and Lieutenant Garren and a team of her choosing who will help as well. As for Lieutenant Life, I will let her know what is going on and she will accompany me as I will need her assistance in research, as well as my CMO, Rothschild. Lieutenant Shields will be heading down to the planet to help to make sure this situation can be handled in a healthy emotional way--helping the other counselors down there already, as Betazed is home to many. Lieutenant Cross and Commander Janssen? PIck where your think your specialties are better served and you have my permission to do just that. From here on out you will all be taking orders from the personnel down there already that outrank you and you will follow them without question and with respect. Is everyone clear?"

Kalen sat in his chair near the end of the table. He was easily the least experienced and probably youngest person at this table, but he still felt that he needed to take part in this. Maybe that inexperience and his lack of a past with anyone but the short time he had had amongst his new friends in the crew would be an asset. He could serve as a liaison perhaps between the people who clearly hated one another. He listened to all of the conversations as everyone stated their opinions and he noticed a few things. First, that while his captain seemed to have an idea about the mission, everyone else on her staff thought differently than her. Second, that while no one seemed to get along, there was this unbearable tension in the room. It made him want to shout at them. To tell them how childish and destructive holding grudges was. He could understand Taylor's decision as a man, but he had no idea why everyone else was against the intelligence officer. And maybe he would never know. And that would be okay with him, he didn't need every iota of information on the ship. But when he decided to speak, he tried to make it as eloquent as he could to avoid showing his inexperience and naivety.

"Having been infected by the Cardassian virus before, would not Captain Crae have the most knowledge of both having to combat it in the field and the precautions to take against it? No offense Miss Shields, but I have no doubt in my mind about her ability to lead this team as a woman carrying a child. But my only worry stands with yours as well. While I would never doubt her decision making faculties, I have to ask, Captain. Is she right? Would these people being your people affect your judgement and emotions in the field? If you can look me in the eye and tell me that you can treat them with no more love or affection than any other sentient race in danger, then I will be behind you one hundred percent. I could serve as a go-between perhaps, for some of the more..passionate members of the team." He looked at the two men. While he respected Taylor greatly, someone had to be the glue that held the teams down on the planet together. He felt that he could do that. He would prove useful, that he promised himself.

After listening to her orders, knowing full well the severity of their situation. He was happy to be going with the marines. He would enjoy being in the field. He hadn't really ever had the opportunity before.

Captain Wierzbowski surprised everyone then by speaking. "Right. I think Captain Crae has just given us all the most level-headed course of action there, and based on that I would say that her connections to this world and her physical condition should not present a problem. Captain, your plan is approved and you are in charge of the initial team on the ground's actions until further notice."

Having hopefully silenced further objections to Lillian's plan, he then nodded to a stoic Vulcan woman in a Medical uniform sitting a few seats away from him, the Mitterand's CMO. "Doctor T'Lek will remain aboard for now, so she has access to the ship's medical equipment to use with whatever data you send up. The same goes for my science staff. The Mitt's labs have greater processing power, so we'll work off of whatever data you provide in the search for a treatment."

He sniffed then, and adjusted his collar. "As you said, we need to defer to Betazoid response teams already on-site, so I don't want to hear about anyone playing cowboy down there. Get the job done and get back to the ship. I'll assign personnel from those departments to supplement your team where needed, but other than that I like the plan you've provided, and I say do it."

Wierzbowski had given his implicit support to the less experienced Captain Crae, but also given her a career-making or breaking challenge: although both ships' crews were involved in this mission, it would be the Fenris' officers that would have the most immediate initial impact on the ground. If they succeeded then all would be well, if they struggled then the Mitterand's more experienced personnel stood ready to jump in, but either way it would be a defining test of the newly formed crew and its captain in the eyes of Starfleet Command. Whether he did this to give Lillian a chance to prove herself or merely to cover his own ass was known only to the older captain, who now eyed the assembled officers intently to listen for any further comments.

Marlo sighed. All this arguing was getting them nowhere. She was not going to stop anyone who wanted extra assurance that they weren't going to get sick, from wearing an EVA suit. If they wanted to wear the bulky and awkward things--to each their own.

"I'll be in the science labs if anyone needs me." She told them all, standing up from the briefing table.

Alyssa got up from the table. "I'll be in my office, disobeying orders. Excuse me while I go find a different ship to be on. Lieutenant Commander Janssen, I'm sorry for my request. I was completely out of line, and I'm sorry. Please forgive me for missing judging you. Captain Crae, it was an honor to serve with you. Captain Wierzbowski, I'm sorry for my ruddiness. I must be frank: my professional opinion has been ignored and will be continued to be ignored on this mission. I'm unfit for duty. Please excuse me."

Alyssa didn't wait for anyone to respond, she just left.

He didn't hesitate for more than a moment after he saw her leave. He looked to his captain to exchange a look that was apologetic and he got up and he followed her out. "Miss Shields! Please, wait a moment." He chased after her for she was much further along the hall due to her head start. He tried to meet her stride as she was heading to her office. "Please Miss Shields, what's going on? I don't want to watch you leave, we were just getting to know one another." He pondered something rash for a moment before heedlessly ignoring whatever voice might have said. He pulled her back into his arms and kissed her momentarily before disengaging. "I don't want you to leave the ship. I would never get to see you again." He remembered that he was still probably expected to be in the briefing. "Think about it, Miss Shields. I have to go back, but I would like to talk to you at least once more before you decide anything." He turned on his heel and walked back towards the briefing room to retake his seat. He couldn't afford to be more of a hindrance to their progress. He wanted his first opportunity as a member of a team and of the crew to go well.

||USS Mitterand
||Briefing Room
||1445


Lillian grabbed herself something to eat as she sat there in the Briefing Room waiting for her Senior Officers to beam over. They had been getting their departments together in expectation of arriving to Betazed and now they were to be briefed about everything by her and Lars. Lillian just hoped that Taylor would be able to handle being in the same room with Lars because while Taylor had forgiven her, Lillian equated that to the fact that she was carrying his child and Lars had been the one to actually leave him there.

"There's a couple of things you should know before the officers get here," Lillian said softly, making a face as she took a bite of her sandwich she had replicated and then started digging into her salad. "There's something we haven't really discussed that we probably should..."

Lars, enjoying another drink as he waited for the officers to assemble, turned to regard Lillian as she spoke. He was studiously ignoring the disapproving look that the Mitterand's captain was giving him, and relishing being in the middle of so much action once again.

"Yes, ma'am?" he inquired, possessing just enough decorum to not call her Lilly in front of the others. He raised an eyebrow at her statement, then responded reassuringly. "If it's about the command hierarchy don't worry. I'm technically under the orders of Captain Wierzbowski, and as senior captain he can and will authorize me to assist in this. Don't sweat it, I'm sure that new Yeoman of yours will handle all the paperwork that arises."

"I'm not worried about the majority of the officers' performances," Lillian admitted as she looked at her plate and continued to eat even though it seemed a bit awkward that she was doing such a thing with the others around, but her pregnancy needs were what they were. "But there is an issue that must be addressed."

Lillian ate a little bit more before she looked at Lars and took a break from her meal, making eye contact with the Intel officer before she tried to piece her words together. She didn't want this to get personal because of the other officers, but she also didn't want think it was fair for Lars to be blindsided either as this was about Betazed and not about he and Taylor's past.

"My MCO," Lillian began slowly, reaching for her drink, "is re-instated Lieutenant Colonel Taylor Lucas."

Once everyone had beamed over to the Mitterand, Marlo led the way toward the briefing room as a young ensign led them down the corridors. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, as she walked into the briefing room, hoping this would be short. She sat down in a chair, this time professionally.

"Another briefing? It's only been an hour since the last one...how am I supposed to work with all these interruptions? Is there anything new to report?" She asked. "Oh...hello Lars."

Briefings, briefing and more briefings. Taylor understood that planning and following orders were parts of the job but moving between one ship to another to be led into a briefing room filled with officers he didn't know mix with the ones he did know was not what he considered a good use of his time. They had already discussed what had to be done and what steps to take and now he had to go through the same rigmarole. He followed an ensign, like so many others had probably done so, before reaching the briefing room.

Upon entering the briefing room Taylor gave a curt nod to the races he recognized. "Lieutenant Colonel Lucas reporting." He said smartly before saluting both captains. A familiar face in a gray uniform caused Taylor to stare rather blankly before a hot flare seemed to enter his face in anger. "You!" he said accusingly. "You! They send you?!"

With every snarl Taylor stepped forward almost ready to hit Lars yet he stayed his hand. Taylor wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of him being dragged away by SOs. "Of all the Intelligence Officers they send they have to send the most incompetent, egotistical moron in this universe!"

Kalen had traveled along to the Mitterand with the rest of the crew, though he was still unaccustomed to being a member of the senior staff. All the reports and all the briefings were just so new to him. He found it to be a hurdle that he needed to jump, and so he was doing his utmost to conquer every obstacle that he encountered. He followed Commander Bakel into the briefing room and was going to report just as Lt. Col Lucas decided to do so. Standing near the back of the line of officers, he only saw the man's shoulders tense before the verbal fireworks went off.

Obviously these people had a joint past and he was curious as to what it was, but he was sure now wasn't exactly the time to ask about it. He decided for once in his life to keep his mouth shut and waited for the members of the senior staff to even move towards finding their seats. He was sure that after this bout that they would get down to business, but he knew that no matter what he would back Taylor if he needed to. He had learned so much in such a short period of time. So he stood meekly at the back of the line waiting for someone to give any sort of orders.

Taylor wasn't even aware of the pilot's presence as he continued on, jabbing Lars' chest with a finger to illustrate each point clear. "You are a complete waste of space, spook. Shall we review your blunders shall we? Last time we dealt with this virus Captain Crae, when she was the CMO of Starbase Seven, she requested medical supplies which you decided was less important than playing battleships with a superior orbital force which resulted in half the supplies needed being deployed"

If rage had an aura it would be surrounding him rather thickly as he just stared down Lars with his one real, one cybernetic eye. "Then when SB7's crew suffer from a chemical that caused hallucinations so what does the good lieutenant command do? He deploys his department to hose down the promenade! Thirty-seven dead and almost double wounded! And no evidence to him being affected! Civilians and Starfleet! And let's not forget the worst part…"

Taylor's shadow seemed to eclipse any light that would have passed over the intelligence officer. If he wasn't praying he soon would be. "You ignored the tactical analysis of two senior marine officers who's combat leadership experience far outstripped your own but you just couldn't be wrong could you Lars?! No! Of course you couldn't be! So instead of going there expecting a fight we get ambushed expecting to fix some power generator! We could have had two companies on that planet with air support! Hell we could have had the Furling on stand by! This isn't about me being left behind because I chose to fight it out while the rest of you got away…this is about Corporal Erlin Novus, twenty-one years old and guess what? He's dead because of you! I can accept when marines die from enemy action but stupidity? That's out of the question. He was more of a man than you'll ever be! And yet here you stand breathing air you aren't even fit to draw from you spineless, simpering, sexual harassing coward!"

Lars had blinked in confusion at Lillian's statement, the words not exactly registering, then been distracted by Marlo's arrival. "Hello, Commander. How are--" but his voice trailed off as a specter of the past walked into the room. "You…?" he whispered hoarsely, with none of the force Taylor had put into the word. He could only gape in horror at Lillian for a moment, finally understanding her words and the engagement ring as a number of horrible realities came crashing down around him.

Heart thumping in his chest, he could only stare in dismay as Taylor reviewed his faults and failures in front of the assembled officers, who were taking careful note, some with a great deal of satisfaction. "I made a command decision based on the intelligence available to me at the time…" he offered meekly. "I was cleared by Captain Atreides and an independent Starfleet Review Board!" He carefully neglected to mention that those verdicts had been based on a report that he himself had authored. "Medical exigencies…" he stammered, then finished his drink in one hasty gulp. Taking deep breath, he collected his thoughts, resisting the temptation to lash out with the same fury that Taylor was emitting. It was going to be fine, he reassured himself. He was protected by his position on the admiral's staff now. Nothing could happen to him now, he was sure.

So Lars fixed Taylor with as stern a gaze as he could muster. "I am of course overjoyed to see you alive and well after your unfortunate disappearance, Colonel," Lars lied through gritted teeth. "But in your self-righteous fury you might consider another perspective on the events of that tragic away mission. Your attitude then was very similar to the one you display now, vehement temper and refusal to compromise. This in turn forced several actions on my part…for the sake of discipline…that would not have been required had there been a command hierarchy that was respected and a cooperative decision-making atmosphere." He was expounding this mostly to try and get the Mitterand's captain on his side, knowing the older captain was all about command discipline and also doubting that Lillian or Marlo would come to his defense. "And charging off into those tunnels certainly did not help the situation. You practically abandoned part of the team, and in doing so abandoned much more than that," Lars hissed, with a brief glance at Lillian. There. That might cause some schism between those two and allow Lars some breathing room.

"So I submit that your hot-headedness played a large part in that…tragedy." He was careful not to say disaster. "Indeed, I wonder if this temper and fixation on ancient history will jeopardize your performance in this and other future missions." But as he said that Lars worried that the marine's temper would 'jeopardize' Lars' own physical well-being right then and there, and regretted not bringing any of his fellow Intel officers along to watch his back at this particular meeting.

"Stop it, both of you," Lillian said suddenly as she rose from the table and made it over to the two men, standing in between them.

In all reality they could take her easily--especially pregnant--even though she did have those psionic abilities of hers at her disposal. There was a time and a place for this, however, and this was not it. Lillian had no doubts in her mind that whatever respect that Captain Wierzbowski had for her was gone now considering how her MCO was acting. While Lillian got their past, no one else in the room did except for Marlo and Gabe a little bit.

"You, sit right there," Lillian told Taylor, pointing to the chair next to her, and then she looked at Lars and pointed to a chair across the table from Taylor. "You, sit there. I don't want any lip from either of you. This is about Betazed. There is a time and a place to talk to each other about this and believe me, I will be making both of you have that talk after this because I will not let Betazed fall because you two can't be in the same place together. What happened sucked and it shouldn't have happened, but right now we do not have the time to dwell on it."

Lillian took Taylor's hand that had been poking Lars in the chest and held it, letting their finger interlace even though that wasn't professional either. It was just that she needed to calm him down and she needed everyone to take a seat that hadn't sat down and she needed everyone to get to business. Lars and Taylor would talk about this later--she would force them to work it out if it was the last thing that she did.

Just for one moment Taylor thought of saying something but it was lost between a feeling of rage and the newly introduced peace that Lillian had introduced by her presence and touch. His nostrils flared but he nodded slowly. Instead of offering a rebuke Taylor just 'yes ma'am'ed in a rather defeated tone before sitting down and taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down. Yes, they would talk but not now...now was the time to prove Lars wrong.

"Captains, I apologize for my nature and can assure you it will not compromise our resolve in dealing with this situation. However if I may make a request to Captain Crae; if any intelligence uplink was to be used that its operator would be Ensign Pena. Lieutenant Commander Janssen may be too busy to offer his assistance with any strike force that I may have to command to deal with the second bomb sight."

When Lillian separated them, Lars grinned a sly grin. "Yes of course, ma'am," he said enthusiastically and made his way to the indicated chair. "You're right, after all. This is about the crisis on Betazed," he intoned loftily. As he sat, though, Lars gave the assembled officers a little shrug and a knowing smirk as if to say Marines, what can you do? and was sure that by the look of it, at least some of them agreed.

It seemed like everyone turned to look at him to see if he would have any objections to Taylor's request that Nayla handle the uplink, but instead Lars just nodded. "The colonel has an excellent idea there. I'd rather not spend my time fiddling with uplinks. I will actually be busy with assessing the overall situation, so if this ensign can handle the matter then by all means," he said with a casual wave of his hand. Magnanimous in victory as always, Lars old boy, he thought, and leaned back in his chair with a triumphant smile. Still, he made a mental note to check on this Ensign Pena to see if she was on the level.

"Both of you, shut up!" Marlo commanded. "I'm sick of your testosterone battle! The two of you will only speak if you have something useful to say that has to do with the current mission. That's an order."

"Right…well, unless there are any more personal matters to attend to, perhaps we could start this briefing someday," Captain Wierzbowski said gruffly, not the least bit amused by the little scene but more than a little intrigued by its causes.

"Certainly sir." said Taylor formally before glaring at Lars in what could have been described as brutally murderous. If a look could raise or lower the room's temperature then the entire briefing would be wearing cold weather gear. I'll show you what marines can do you pompous little twat..."Now before anyone suggests that some safety feature from some lab has accidentally failed and released a virus I suggest you scrub that now. This is an entirely hostile situation. Right now phasers are more useful than medical tricorders until the threat can be contained and eliminated. From primary reports a bomb was detonated carrying a pathogen used by the Cardassians to prevent telepaths gaining knowledge of their top secret facilities. First it restricts the use of such abilities before rendering those with them...well, dead. Symptoms include increase in thermal activity within the body, sweating, headaches before developing into immobilization and death. Races that do not possess telepathy or empathy are simply not effected but I can't rule out that they could commute it to those that would be. I've recommended to Captain Crae that anyone within the area of operations should be in hard EVA suits or armor to prevent contamination."

Taylor took a small breath before continuing. One thing was for sure, he didn't like to repeat himself. "Medical and science would be best suited to the needed research to combat the virus and come up with numbers of contingency plans should attempts to locate the second bomb fail. From what we've gathered a threat has been made about a second device using an airborne variant of the virus. We can't call their bluff in case it turns out to be genuine. Right now no demands have been made yet and the location has yet to be determined. Once we find it, it goes without saying; we need to be aggressive and precise in disarming it and disabling its creators."

"Full on has-mat suits is overkill, Mr. Lucas. We know the original virus targeted telepaths--however, I'm unsure if it could transmit to non telepaths--I haven't had much alone time with the original--and it was only transmitted through blood, so unless you're planning to perform a blood oath with someone who's infected..." Marlo trailed off, knowing she got her point across.

"I believe that a quarantine is definitely in order here, but the most important part is finding the bomb--Commander Sharpe is more than prepared to dismantle the bomb should we find it, and we must find it." Lillian explained, trying to figure out what she wanted to do next. "As to your request, Colonel Lucas, I believe you should leave the channel open for Ensign Pena and Lieutenant Cross as she is CIO and came to me with some of our information in the first place. What I want to know is what team members will be going down with the group that I am leading."

She had yet to tell Taylor that she was leading a group down at Captain Wierzbowski's suggestion. Lillian knew that Taylor wasn't going to be happy about it, but Lillian wanted to do her part in all of this and felt like she had to be part of the solution. Either way, she was a leader who liked to know her team and she wanted more than anything to get to know some of the people before they got in orbit of Betazed and beamed down.

"Commander Bakel will be on the bridge of the Fenris to keep me posted, and my Marines and my Engineers are ready, but Medical and Science are most important." Lillian said out loud.

"Person who created this virus is smart commander." replied Taylor flatly. "They'd know that whoever it was deployed against might find out that it kills just telepaths. So then they'd surmise that we'd separated infected telepaths from non-infected telepaths. They've said that they've got an aerosol version of the weapon and it might be designed to use non-telepaths as a carrier or the disease. Please tell me that you're not going to weigh up the dangers against your weak argument here...so what if it's transmittable by blood? A medic forgets to use a fresh IV then one more person is infected. When NBC warfare is in effect you can't take chances. You have to prepare for the what ifs."

Gabe sat in silence, his arms folded across his chest as the briefing continued. He almost smiled as Taylor gave Lars a dressing down but said nothing, he had too much on his mind at the minute.

"I agree with Colonel Lucas, when dealing with a virus like this we can't be too careful. We know the virus has been modifed to become airborne we have no idea what other changes have been made and given our timeline we don't really have the time to find out. But before I even think about that we need to find that bomb, so what's the plan on that one?"

"No offense Lieutenant Commander Sharpe, but I have an objection," Alyssa spoke, knowing full well that she was not exactly a medical officer and had no control over Captain Wierzbowski's decisions. "I'm sorry Captain Crae, but I believe it to be very unwise for you to lead a team. I know that this is your home planet and you want to help at all costs, but you need to remember that you've been infected by this virus before and you're with child now. The virus now on Betazed may not be the same virus, and we have no idea of the full capability it has. I'm against you leading a team, and will be stated in my report as such. Now, I have a request. One that I hope you, and Captain Wierzbowski will grant. I request to be as far away from Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen as possible."

Alyssa knew all too well that this request would not be granted, and her objection would be ignored. She decided to take a chance in front of everyone to state her objection and request, rather than to keep it to herself and possibly plan the death of Lieutenant Commander Lars Janssen. She knew, from the reports, what had happen on the planet where Taylor was left for dead along with her cousin's account; which she believed more so than the reports.

Lars gave Alyssa an icy stare at that, but said nothing, only slowly typed something into his PADD. It was clear to him that the crew of the Fenris had been thoroughly infected by Taylor and his ideas, and that presented a problem. He would need to find some allies on the ship, but it seemed like no one at this briefing would do. A closer evaluation of the rest of the crew was in order. Frowning, he carefully set the PADD down on the table and folded his gloved hands in front of him as he gazed at Lillian now, still silent.

Lillian felt...embarrassed. She couldn't figure out what other emotions were swirling around in there but she knew for certain that she was embarrassed. Not a single one of her Senior Officers had been acting with any respect for authority except for Marlo, Kalen and Gabe, and Marissa and Marlena who had kept silent all this time. The moment Lars and Taylor started throwing quips at each other it had just shown the other officers that they could act like that and now Lillian knew whatever respect she had gained coming aboard the Mitterand had been lost.

She could just imagine the kind of reports that Captain Weirzbowski would be filing about her to Starfleet Command and she couldn't help but feel a bit defeated. She'd told K'Nok that she wasn't fit to run her own ship and she felt as though she had been incredibly right because she had failed...she didn't have a team that could work together and put personal issues aside when faced with a crisis. That was a clear indication of failed leadership. Now wasn't the time to feel sorry for herself, however, it was a time to assert herself.

"EVA suits will be mandatory for the group going after the bomb, however other than that I will not permit such measures as reports from Betazed don't show a mutation so far from the research I found on Baicephorus VII. Such extreme precautions will just alert the civilians into a panic and that is the last thing that we want." Lillian said in an authoritative voice, though she had a feeling that the ones that knew her best, knew she was feeling defeated. "I will be leading the first team down. In case you have all forgotten, I have the knowledge and research at my disposal as well as the personal experience to help the doctors already on Betazed to piece this all together. This is not about our sacrifices, this about an entire race that has been exposed to something deadly for no good reason. So, let me be perfectly clear in spelling out your orders because that is why you are here. To get a job done."

Lillian didn't know if they would all hate her or not for her next words, but she was tired of personal games. "Commander Bakel will keep in contact with everyone from the Fenris, working on her own tasks I have assigned to her up there, and making sure that everyone else is doing what they should be doing. Colonel Lucas and Lieutenant Gespard will be with the Marine Detachment, helping to search for the bomb, accompanied by Commander Sharpe who will be in charge of dismantling the bomb, and Lieutenant Garren and a team of her choosing who will help as well. As for Lieutenant Life, I will let her know what is going on and she will accompany me as I will need her assistance in research, as well as my CMO, Rothschild. Lieutenant Shields will be heading down to the planet to help to make sure this situation can be handled in a healthy emotional way--helping the other counselors down there already, as Betazed is home to many. Lieutenant Cross and Commander Janssen? PIck where your think your specialties are better served and you have my permission to do just that. From here on out you will all be taking orders from the personnel down there already that outrank you and you will follow them without question and with respect. Is everyone clear?"

Kalen sat in his chair near the end of the table. He was easily the least experienced and probably youngest person at this table, but he still felt that he needed to take part in this. Maybe that inexperience and his lack of a past with anyone but the short time he had had amongst his new friends in the crew would be an asset. He could serve as a liaison perhaps between the people who clearly hated one another. He listened to all of the conversations as everyone stated their opinions and he noticed a few things. First, that while his captain seemed to have an idea about the mission, everyone else on her staff thought differently than her. Second, that while no one seemed to get along, there was this unbearable tension in the room. It made him want to shout at them. To tell them how childish and destructive holding grudges was. He could understand Taylor's decision as a man, but he had no idea why everyone else was against the intelligence officer. And maybe he would never know. And that would be okay with him, he didn't need every iota of information on the ship. But when he decided to speak, he tried to make it as eloquent as he could to avoid showing his inexperience and naivety.

"Having been infected by the Cardassian virus before, would not Captain Crae have the most knowledge of both having to combat it in the field and the precautions to take against it? No offense Miss Shields, but I have no doubt in my mind about her ability to lead this team as a woman carrying a child. But my only worry stands with yours as well. While I would never doubt her decision making faculties, I have to ask, Captain. Is she right? Would these people being your people affect your judgement and emotions in the field? If you can look me in the eye and tell me that you can treat them with no more love or affection than any other sentient race in danger, then I will be behind you one hundred percent. I could serve as a go-between perhaps, for some of the more..passionate members of the team." He looked at the two men. While he respected Taylor greatly, someone had to be the glue that held the teams down on the planet together. He felt that he could do that. He would prove useful, that he promised himself.

After listening to her orders, knowing full well the severity of their situation. He was happy to be going with the marines. He would enjoy being in the field. He hadn't really ever had the opportunity before.

Captain Wierzbowski surprised everyone then by speaking. "Right. I think Captain Crae has just given us all the most level-headed course of action there, and based on that I would say that her connections to this world and her physical condition should not present a problem. Captain, your plan is approved and you are in charge of the initial team on the ground's actions until further notice."

Having hopefully silenced further objections to Lillian's plan, he then nodded to a stoic Vulcan woman in a Medical uniform sitting a few seats away from him, the Mitterand's CMO. "Doctor T'Lek will remain aboard for now, so she has access to the ship's medical equipment to use with whatever data you send up. The same goes for my science staff. The Mitt's labs have greater processing power, so we'll work off of whatever data you provide in the search for a treatment."

He sniffed then, and adjusted his collar. "As you said, we need to defer to Betazoid response teams already on-site, so I don't want to hear about anyone playing cowboy down there. Get the job done and get back to the ship. I'll assign personnel from those departments to supplement your team where needed, but other than that I like the plan you've provided, and I say do it."

Wierzbowski had given his implicit support to the less experienced Captain Crae, but also given her a career-making or breaking challenge: although both ships' crews were involved in this mission, it would be the Fenris' officers that would have the most immediate initial impact on the ground. If they succeeded then all would be well, if they struggled then the Mitterand's more experienced personnel stood ready to jump in, but either way it would be a defining test of the newly formed crew and its captain in the eyes of Starfleet Command. Whether he did this to give Lillian a chance to prove herself or merely to cover his own ass was known only to the older captain, who now eyed the assembled officers intently to listen for any further comments.

Marlo sighed. All this arguing was getting them nowhere. She was not going to stop anyone who wanted extra assurance that they weren't going to get sick, from wearing an EVA suit. If they wanted to wear the bulky and awkward things--to each their own.

"I'll be in the science labs if anyone needs me." She told them all, standing up from the briefing table.

Alyssa got up from the table. "I'll be in my office, disobeying orders. Excuse me while I go find a different ship to be on. Lieutenant Commander Janssen, I'm sorry for my request. I was completely out of line, and I'm sorry. Please forgive me for missing judging you. Captain Crae, it was an honor to serve with you. Captain Wierzbowski, I'm sorry for my ruddiness. I must be frank: my professional opinion has been ignored and will be continued to be ignored on this mission. I'm unfit for duty. Please excuse me."

Alyssa didn't wait for anyone to respond, she just left.

He didn't hesitate for more than a moment after he saw her leave. He looked to his captain to exchange a look that was apologetic and he got up and he followed her out. "Miss Shields! Please, wait a moment." He chased after her for she was much further along the hall due to her head start. He tried to meet her stride as she was heading to her office. "Please Miss Shields, what's going on? I don't want to watch you leave, we were just getting to know one another." He pondered something rash for a moment before heedlessly ignoring whatever voice might have said. He pulled her back into his arms and kissed her momentarily before disengaging. "I don't want you to leave the ship. I would never get to see you again." He remembered that he was still probably expected to be in the briefing. "Think about it, Miss Shields. I have to go back, but I would like to talk to you at least once more before you decide anything." He turned on his heel and walked back towards the briefing room to retake his seat. He couldn't afford to be more of a hindrance to their progress. He wanted his first opportunity as a member of a team and of the crew to go well.

"Well," Lillian said slowly, rising out of her chair. "I think that about covers all of it. We'll be in orbit at approximately 1520, so make sure you know what you're doing. Dismissed."


Good and finished?