Mini-Mission - Pt 2

Posted on Mon Sep 28th, 2026 @ 10:56am by Commander Jennifer Baldric & Commander Savar cha'Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Commander Jenna Ramthorne & Commander Dean House & Lieutenant Commander Aurora Vali & Lieutenant JG Jacob Rosen

2,586 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: September
Location: DS9

Dean and Jennifer attempted to make their way to Engineering, to aid in solving whatever craziness the station's computer was throwing at them. It took then 4 different lifts, a ladder, and a long corridor to get there, 3 times longer than it should have.

"Okay, even for me, that was annoying as hell and unnecessary." Comicly pats along his forehead with two fingers, "Oh good, I've not broken a sweat."

USS Sunfire - Bridge

Aurora walked out onto the bridge her senses had picked up all manner of emotions coming from DS9. “What on Earth is going on aboard DS9? I’m sensing so many conflicting emotions it would light up a Bajor sized Christmas tree!”

T’Lilbit glanced up from her station, her expression remaining characteristically neutral. “A minor correction, Commander. Coniferous trees have not been observed to reach planetary dimensions.”

She returned her attention to the sensors. “Although, given the readings currently emanating from Deep Space Nine, I concede that the comparison is otherwise quite reasonable.”

Jenna acknowledged Aurora’s arrival on the bridge with a slight tilt of her head. “We’re attempting to reach Ops to understand what’s happening ourselves, but every time we contact the station, our signal gets rerouted somewhere other than Ops.”

She glanced toward the communications console. “We’ve reached several individuals already, including at least one unhappy abluting individual. None of them appeared to know what’s going on.”

"Hey, I heard that!" Said showering individual who's comm channel stubbornly remained connected despite efforts to sever it.

"None the less Aurora, your statement about so many conflicting emotions is quite correct. The abundance is mystifying and concerning." Savar replied.

“It sounds like something has gone seriously awry with the systems down there if comms is rerouting itself then there could be a virus, or maybe a system wide glitch” Aurora added her academy Ops training and knowledge showing. “Problem being if it’s a virus then it could transfer across to us especially with comms connected.”

T’Lilbit glanced toward Aurora from the science station. “I considered that possibility. Communications bandwidth has already been restricted to a narrow filtered band, with all outgoing connection attempts isolated from the primary communications architecture.”

Her fingers continued across the console. “I have also routed each connection through an isolated virtual private network tunnel with a disposable encryption layer. Any anomalous traffic is contained within the tunnel and discarded before it can reach our internal systems.”

She looked back toward the sensor display. “If this is a virus, it will have considerable difficulty reaching us.”

Jenna through her thumb in T'Lilbit's direction, "Yeah, what she said."

Aurora grinned. “Sounds excellent to me, nice thinking T’Lilbit.”

From his XO station Savar nodded and replied "Indeed."


DS9 - Engineering

From the station's Engineering hub, Dean and Jennifer found a mass of confusion. Nog was trying to coordinate repairs, only to be continually thwarted by the ship's computer which seemed hell bent in making any repairs to it impossible. It was almost as though it had taken a life of its own and was now trying to preserve it.

"Can you get Comms with the Sunfire?" Jennifer asked the Ferengi.

" We can try - but it's more likely to end up in waste reclamation again" Nog replied in a tone that meant he had most certainly had better days.

The maintenance hatch behind them suddenly opened and Bonnie emerged from the ventilation shaft looking thoroughly miserable. Her overshirt hung open, her hair was plastered against her forehead, and sweat ran freely down her face and neck after spending far too long in the steadily heating shaft. She pulled herself the rest of the way out, retrieved her maintenance pack, and gave Nog a long, exhausted look. “Well, that was a chore,” she said, sarcasm dripping almost as freely as the sweat from her brow.

She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and looked around at the chaos in Engineering. “I wouldn't bother with communications. Or anything else involving computer functions, for that matter.” She shifted her pack onto her shoulder, still looking thoroughly annoyed with the console she'd just left behind. “I don't know yet what's causing it, but I have a theory.”

Bonnie paused, looking from one face to another. “But first, does anyone know where Captain Kira is?”

Kira was traversing the J tubes, trying to find an access point that wasn't either locked or leading to a hazardous environment. Her comm badge wasn't working, and her frustration at being blocked at every turn was rising.

" I haven't seen her, but then again it took us ages to get just here. The computer seems hell-bent on making life difficult," Jennifer quipped as she took in the frazzled Bonnie.

"So tell me - what's this theory you have?"

“It’s not much, I admit. But I found a sub-command program, something called ‘Doghouse.’ It was consuming more resources than it was allocated.” Bonnie rubbed at the sweat on her forehead, her thoughts already moving faster than her mouth could comfortably keep up. “What’s more is, it reminded me of something I read. Years ago, they brought a probe to the Daystrom Institute for study. Fascinating stuff, really. It came from the other side of the wormhole, I think…”

She'd started rambling as the connections in her head were already taking shape. “There was something about the way it interacted with computer systems, or at least the way the researchers reported it. I don't remember all the details, but Doghouse feels familiar somehow.”

Jacob looked up from assisting Nog, memory stirring at Bonnie's idea. "Commander, can we get enough feedback to see if the malware is transmitting any data off-station?"

"We need to shut it down before it shuts one of us down. I think you know what I mean" Jennifer said firmly, as though she knew more than a basic understanding of how the computer functioned. "I feel these.... inconveniences will ramp up when it finds we're onto it"

“Um, sure. Uh, Feedback. We... can... overload the system.” Bonnie's brow furrowed as she worked through the idea aloud. “If we collectively cause the system to process more than it can handle, we should be able to force it into a feedback loop long enough to isolate the ‘Doghouse’ subroutine and put this puppy back on the leash.”

As she spoke, her uncertainty gave way to growing confidence, the technical possibilities rapidly filling in behind the idea. “We'd have to control what we overload and monitor the response carefully, otherwise we could make the problems considerably worse.” Her eyes brightened as the thought developed. “But if we can identify what the subroutine is trying to prioritize while the system is under load, we might be able to isolate it from the rest of the station.”

"Soooooo how do we overload an old Cardassian computer that's been integrated with Starfleet technology. It's not exactly textbook." Jennifer cautioned.

“Weeellllllll...” Bonnie drew the word out as she worked through the problem. “We each take a station and systematically force the computer into calculations that keep it busy. At the same time, we pull selective isolinear rods from noncritical systems, reducing the available processing and control capacity in a controlled way.”

Her expression brightened as the idea began to come together. “Basically, we make the computer work harder while giving it fewer resources to work with. If we do it carefully, we might be able to force it into a failure state that either isolates the malicious programming or crashes the affected processes before they can spread.” She looked around at the others. “It'll take everyone concentrating on their part and watching the system response. If we're not careful, we could take down half the station ourselves.”

"I'm here! I'm here!" Dean almost gave a bite me, and do not question where he went to. He'd heard what was being said. "Or, you just give it a problem it can't resolve. Make it play chess with itself. Or at least, the Cardassian version. It will cause an infinite loop it can't get itself out of while we can work without issue." He paused a moment, "Should...have no issue."

The familiarity brought a smile to Bonnie's face. “Right, except we don't want to make it too obvious that we're trying to trick it.” Her smile faded as she considered the implications. “So far, it’s shown that it can selectively target individuals or larger areas. We don't want to give it enough to decide 'we are the problem' and just gas the entire section.”

"Sounds like a plan Bonnie, so what do you need us to do?" Jennifer asked, looking around at the assembled officers "And shouldn't we tell the Captain what we're doing... both of them. Unless that will give away our plan to the computer, which we really don't want" The Commander pondered the dilemma. Kaylen was apparently off the station and Kira was still unaccounted for.

Bonnie gave a small shrug at the suggestion of telling the Captain. “I mean, I asked. I don't know where she is either.” She glanced toward Jennifer. “As for Captain Kaylen, that's probably a Commander Baldric decision. I'm pretty sure you're allowed to make the command decision without asking the exhausted engineer who just crawled out of a ventilation shaft.” Her voice alone held the sound of tired sarcasm.

She adjusted the strap of her maintenance pack and moved toward the engineering station. “The important part is that we don't give the computer enough information to recognize what we're attempting.” She paused, then added, “And preferably 'before' it chooses to vent us into space.”

"Bonnnnie-kinnns?" Said with a delightful and sweet laced tone, "You know..since I'm the Second Officer, I can just as well make that decision. Well, so can Jennifer, but I can just as easily approve it and take the blame, if this goes sideways. Which it won't because we have you on it." Dean smiled and gave her a wink.

The planning that followed was brief and practical, with each officer choosing a station and a specific portion of the system to work. Minutes later, Ops had become a web of activity, each console occupied as the station's personnel prepared to put Bonnie's theory to the test. Bonnie stood beside Nog at the Engineering station, a tricorder open in one hand and the access controls for the isolinear rods in front of them.

She glanced between the tricorder and the readouts, then toward Nog. “Okay. We're looking for the point where the system starts fighting back. When I tell you to pull, pull the rod I've marked. Not before.”

She accessed the tricorder and began monitoring the station's processing load. “Let's see what you've got for us, little Pup.”

"Yes, let us see." Dean nodded, he then moved off to the side and tapped his commbadge. "House to Ops, Captain Kira, Captain Kaylen," he smirked again because in the moment he wanted to call Nora 'Captain Sugar Pants,' however, not right now and not in the correct mixed company. "I'm.."

As Kaylen was out of range on Bajor she never got the message, Kira however was trying to extricate herself from the maintence tubes after thr computet kept trying to contain her. The combadge offered nothihg but static and a rising frustration.


USS Sunfire - Bridge

Aurora took her seat. “So what can we do to help from here? There must be something more we can do?”

"Quite correct Aurora. There must be something we can do assist. As we do not wish to be lumps on the wall." (He means bumps) Savar added.

T’Lilbit considered the question for a moment, “We could monitor the station. If its systems are experiencing a widespread malfunction, there should be observable changes in power distribution, communications traffic, and sensor emissions.” She adjusted several parameters on her console.

“I can establish a continuous sensor sweep of Deep Space Nine and compare its current readings against our most recent normal baseline. If there is a pattern to the disruptions, we may be able to identify which systems are being affected without establishing a direct connection.”

Her expression remained static. “It would provide us with information while avoiding unnecessary interaction with the station’s computer systems. While not necessarily helpful to the inhabitants of the station, it is information and information is generally more useful than standing around being... bumps... on the wall.”

"Very good, make it so." Savar ordered. "We must find a way to take more proactive action and not be as you stated, bumps on the wall."

Ronson appeared a short time later carrying snacks " I had a feeling something hinky was going on. Someone said the Station's computer was going bad. Ours is ok though?" he asked as he handed out snacks.

“Thank you Ronson” Aurora smiled warmly. “It would seem that we’re unaffected so far, let’s hope it stays that way.”

Jenna looked toward Savar, momentarily wondering about the change in bridge personnel before setting the thought aside. “I’m open to suggestions,” she said, keeping her tone straightforward. “Our systems are already fragile, so I’d prefer anything we try to work within what we have available.”

"We investigate and evaluate the affected systems and work on a plan or plans to restore the affected systems to working properly." Savar replied.


DS9 Operations Center

"I'm in Engineering with Nog, Bonnie, and Jennifer. We're working on a solution as we speak. So if things start to go a little wonky..that's why." Deans voice came over the comms.

The waste reclamation worker had exited the shower by this stage and it seemed all comms were going to his bathroom. He jammed his hands over his ears and tried to shut the system off with his pants around his ankles, having been in the middle of his morning constitutional.

"Who the heck are you? And why do people keep calling my bathroom?"

A woman's voice called from somewhere beyond the bathroom. “Who are you talking to?” There was a brief silence. “Who is that on the comm?”

The worker slowly lowered one hand and glanced toward the bathroom door. “Nobody, Tessa, go back to your knitting.”

"Why are you talking to nobody in the bathroom?”

“I’m not talking to nobody!”

The comm chirped again.

"Go away the lot of you. Stop calling my bathroom!" The worker shoked his hands on his hips, realised he wasn't wearing pants, and hiked them up from his ankles. "Damn Feds"

Tessa's voice immediately sharpened from the other room. "Why do I hear another woman's voice from our bathroom Harrold?"

"It's Commander House of the Sunfire and I will not stop calling. The station is having issues if you haven't notice. I'm trying to reach Ops. Listen to your wife and pay attention. Or do you want to stay locked up in your bathroom and then a cell."

"How many times do I need to say, this is my Bathroom! Does it look like Ops? I can't help it if you can't talk to them" his grumbling voice was cut off again by his wife's who appeared next to him.

"Now...House or whatevet your name is....having comms issues you say? I can try and reroute your call through our secondary comms relay in here. Might work, can't promise it" Tessa compromised.

TBC

 

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