Sentinel

Mixie squares her shoulders and draws herself up to her full height, knowing first impressions with her new team of engineers will be important, especially after the mix-up at the docking gates. As she steps into the inter-lift which will transport her to the engineering hub, she quickly crosses her fingers behind her back, perhaps a bit of Old Earth luck will help. She re-materialises in engineering but instead of a calm, smooth running, orderly hub, she steps into chaos, alarms ringing, people running and equipment clattering all around.

'What in the name Volelia of is going on!' she bellows, surprisingly loudly for such a small person, as she grabs a panicking crewman running past.

'There's been some kind of computer power surge which keeps tripping alarms, but we can't find the source and the Chief is due any minute!'

'Power surge?...Someone turn off that alarm...I can barely hear myself think!' Mixie strides over to the control desk for the internal computerised systems for Sentinel.

'Sentinel, online?'

'Yes Sentinel online, what is your access level?' The calm, synthetic voice of the smart-net system, connecting all the hubs to engineering is at odds to the chaos around.

'Level Chief One.'

'Voice confirmed, welcome Chief.'

'Sentinel, where is the power surge in your systems?'

'There is no power surge in my systems, all systems are running optimally.'

Mixie glances at the power spikes registering all over the place, as though something is running through the whole of the station's computerised systems and an idea occurs to her.

'Sentinel, is there anyone else online?'

'At present, there are four hundred and seventy three authorised users online.'

'Any unauthorised?'

'One.'

'Sentinel, what is the unauthorised user accessing?'

'User is comparative scanning my systems for accuracy to original plans.'

Finally someone turns off the alarm and Mixie finds all eyes are on her as she talks to Sentinel.

She taps the intercom button on her uniform and requests a secure line to the Commander.

'Commander Pierce? This is the Chief, in engineering, we have a problem with the computer systems.'

'A problem?' Pierce replies into his intercom and moves away from the group of new Starfleet crewmen he is welcoming and indicates to the medical team to proceed with their space flu inoculations. 'Not something you can sort out?'

'The problem isn't in the system itself, I think someone has managed to hack into Sentinel and is triggering a series of power spikes as the system tries to protect itself. There's nothing we can do in engineering apart from closing the system down. Did you order anyone to run comparative scans?'

'Comparative scans?'

'Yes.'

Pierce thinks for a moment and then replies. 'I think I know what the problem is, Chief. Don't shut the system down yet. I'll get onto it. Allow them access for now.'

Mixie sighs and returns to Sentinel.

'Sentinel, allow temporary access for unauthorised user and monitor all their activity.'

'Yes Chief, temporary access request for unauthorised user allowed.'

Mixie turns to face the Engineering crew gathering around the control desk as the power spikes ease and the systems settle back down. 'Well, back to work, it's all under control now!'

Pierce takes an inter-lift to the personnel hub where the young Borg and his Guard of Honour have been housed. As he reaches their suite of cabins, he calls Swayla over the intercom.

'Swayla, can you carry on with the meet and greet, I have a situation I need to handle for an hour or two.' Pierce presses the entry button on the door and waits for a reply.

The door slides open and Pierce steps into the dimly lit cabin to find Numbers standing in the middle of the room, his eyes closed and arms folded. 'I'm going to have to ask you to stop your scans, Numbers.'

'Commander Pierce, I am merely checking the specifications of the Sentinel system for any errors.'

'You need an security access level beyond your current Starfleet grade for that. We did make some changes to the computer system, namely installing security protocols but you seem to have hacked straight through them all.'

Numbers opens his eyes and focuses on the Commander with a look of concern. 'I did not hack into Sentinel. I am simply talking to her, please understand, this was in no way a malicious attempt to hurt her.'

'Good. But the truth is, Sentinel has a space station to run and your... conversation is triggering power spikes as she tries to stop your unauthorised access. Please do not use Sentinel again without the proper access codes appropriate to your grade.'

'Of course Commander, I.. I just...'

'I know, it's going to be hard adjusting to life as a Starfleet ensign. I know you probably feel this station is, in some way, yours but for now, it's a case of everything by the regulations. Your abilities to access systems without clearance is just one of the things you will have to learn to control. Now, I was going to give you a day or two to orientate yourself but I get the feeling you know your way round already and I think it will be better for all of us if you start work immediately. I'll take you to your post and introduce you to your lieutenant.'

Pierce calls Engineering and asks Mixie to cancel the temporary access authorisation and then he and Numbers head for a satellite hub on a the outer edge of the station.

Maps

Commander Pierce and Numbers find Lieutenant Elenah Mapletree deep in concentration pouring over an old scroll, spread out over one of the 3D computer mapping tables in the map room. The map room housed a copy of Starfleet's catalogue of planets, solar systems, galaxies and universal quadrant maps. A huge library of exploration spanning hundreds of years. With each new contact and discovery, more maps are added, new stars, new routes, new horizons.

Elenah Mapletree is a tall, willowy woman, with long, silvery hair caught back in a ponytail. As she realises she is not alone, she looks up and smiles warmly at the Commander, laughter lines creasing and spreading like a map of years across her face.

'Commander! Come in, come in! Now, this must be my new protégé. I remember this one as a cadet not much younger than you and look at him now! Pierce was one of my brightest students but he...'

'Mapletree, this is Numbers, I'm hoping you can put him to work right away as he is keen to keep busy.' Pierce interrupts Mapletree before she can start on a story about one of his escapades at the Academy which would not be at all appropriate at the moment.

'Well, I'm just cataloguing this Mistral scroll, a very nice Mistralian dropped it off not ten minutes ago... what was his name, Peator? Anyway, it charts an ancient route between the gas clouds of Mistralia hitherto unknown to Starfleet. See, now if you just call up the current 3D chart for this sector, that's right, filed in that directory...'

Pierce smiles as Mapletree's undying enthusiasm for all things to do with maps immediately captures Numbers attention and soon they are both absorbed in studying the minutiae of Mistral space charts and almost oblivious to his presence. He checks the time, the last shuttle of the morning would be arriving soon, if he was quick he'd there in time to greet it. Neither Mapletree or Numbers notice the Commander slip away as the unfolding wonders of the Mistralian Gas Clouds Formations spread out before them hovering in three dimensions above the mapping table and they start the painstaking computational conversion from the hand drawn scroll to a working star map, ready to be uploaded to the current Starfleet database.