RP Log: Briefing the Admiral
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Stardate:
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| 2023-08-01 23:28 | |
- Cargo Bay <USS Hadfield NCC-98006>
- This cavernous room is used to store raw materials, equipment, parts and items in bulk. Bright lighting illuminates the main area, which is comprised of a wide open space, with two large cargo racks parallel to each other in one corner of the room. Against one bulkhead is a large cargo transporter pad, where items that are too large for normal transport can be beamed to and from the ship without hassle. Several alcoves are also built into the bulkheads, each with a keypad to one side. These can be used to store hazardous materials, and sealed using a forcefield. A panel set near the bulkhead to the right of the entrance is used by an on duty crew member to log changes to the contents of the bay. In total, this cargo bay can hold approximately 2,000 tonnes of cargo.
Worthington is already waiting, standing just inside the door near the portable computer core.
Kadn steps into the cargo bay. Spotting you he heads your way. "Commander, good to see you." He looks at the portable core briefly then back to you. "So what is this all about?, And don't leave out any details."
Worthington nods, making sure that noone else is here sir. "Sabotage," he says bluntly. "We have a conspiracy aboard Phoenix sir. The people involved are quite adept with computers. They had malicious code embedded in our systems. They used that code to completely disengage internal sensors in the star drive section to enable them to perpitrate an interrogation and subsequent murder of one crewman Jenkins." He pauses. "While commander LePage did find some of their code, we cannot be sure that the re-imaging we did from Hadfield cleared out the malicious elements. If Hadfield had also been infected in some way, then we couldn't be sure that what we had on hand was clean." He pauses. "We also can't trust our database at the moment. Records on some of our crew appear to be altered, and there was one instance of a DNA trace being actively deleted when Doctor Sawyer attempted to examine crewman Jenkins for any DNA traces. Thus, we cannot satisfactorily determine that our computer systems are free of malicious sabotage code. We know that we have a conspiracy aboard and that they're professional. The note they left with the murder victim plus the afinnity for computer systems tends to indicate that such individuals are remnants of the humanist conspiracy that threatened to undermine Starfleet itself several years ago. We always knew there were some survivors from admiral Hauser's flagship. We just never tracked them all down sir." He sighs. "Just what we need while we're away from home. I suggested we could bring hadfield back, as commander LePage did rig that portable core, and he based the re-image off Hadfield. While here, we could look into some other matters using a more reliable database than our own, and also attempt to accomplish some objectives related to our current situation at Carorkon III. I took a skelaton crew due to the security nature of the mission, and here we are sir."
Kadn takes that all in, he sighs, "I was afraid of that." He takes a long breath, his massive chest expanding. "The Phoenix isn't the only ship with a compromised computer system. Remnants of this station being under the command of Admiral Hauser. It's the reason our external support mode is disabled. Can't take the risk of any computer uplinks through it." He adds, "Those code snippets Lieutenant Commander LePage sent along were helpful, but not until your report was I convinced." He asks, "Are you still having obvious computer issues on the Phoenix?"
Worthington considers. "Nothing too obvious, but," he says. "When we re-imaged the systems, well, we did have a few missing persons reports, one of the things I'm investigating back here. When the computers were back online, suddenly, there were records of these individuals having been transfered, and the cases were just closed. Interestingly enough, it's standard security protocol to report all incidents like this to the head of security, that'd be me, and this was not done. This indicates that the security department itself may have been compromised." He sighs. "Have you had any reports from other ships of any incidents that are evidence of a malicious actor, not just a computer system with malicious code?" he asks.
"No", Kadn says, "But you and I both know the Phoenix is special." He walks around the portable core, "The problem is, it wasn't just some malicious code tacked onto the system, it was a backdoor built into the system design. A backdoor that would grant someone with Academy level training could use to do just about anything. Including changing files, or simply erasing them." He asks, "Tell me, you mentioned the star drive section specifically. Were there any issues in the saucer section detected?"
Worthington considers. "That would depend on a few things. First, where those missing persons reports were filed, and second, which sickbay was used for the DNA analysis. We have a rather large medical department. We cannot rule out anything in the saucer having issues. Afterall, those systems uplink and talk to each other on a regular basis, especially on Phoenix, given her size," he says.
Kadn nods, "With your permission, I'll have a small team come aboard the Hadfield and do a sweep for the backdoor code. That will either give you some peace of mind, or tell us the Hadfield might as well get a refit while here too."
Worthington nods. "Gladly sir," he says. "Can this backdoor code be transfered via comms uplink? Considering what to do with Hadfield and comms upon return to the Phoenix."
"The uplink isn't supposed to grant that level of access, but it doesn't hurt to be prudent." Kadn replies. He taps his commbadge and orders the team aboard. "Who's your chief engineer for this trip?" he asks you.
Worthington nods. "Lieutenant junior grade Jessica Hauser sir," he says. "I have no reason to suspect her of anything related to her father's activities, nor have her service record or actions during her relevant postings given any cause for such concerns sir."
Kadn raises an eyebrow, "Jessica Hauser, interesting." He nods, "And no, I trust your judgement. I was simply enquiring so my team knows who to coordinate with. If I was chief, I'd hate it if an admiral started poking around without at least giving me a heads up."
Worthington nods and smiles. "Well sir, you poking around is the reason we're here, so by all means, poke sir," he says.
Kadn nods and smiles, "Indeed." He adds, "You said you had other business local. I've also been enquiring about ships for the relocation effort. Nothing concrete yet, but it is in the works. I should have an update for you before you head back."
Worthington nods. "I've tasked lieutenant Ryu with linking up with the Starfleet medical database and running those DNA traces we got, not the murder ones, those were not sent back with me. They may have been physically destroyed. We collected via transporter DNA markers for a few of the Carorkons humans, the ones who visited the ship. We are attempting to see if any of their families survived the past 7 centuries, so basically, determine if there are any relatives alive in the Federation." He pauses. "Then I also need to pull the service jackets for our murder victim and the 3 missing crewman to gather more information and determine if one, any of our files on those people were altered, and two, if the other missing people were truly transfered, or if they may have also been murdered."
Kadn says, "You could just recall the service jackets with the Phoenix' computer...Oh, you're concerned its been tampered with." he nods. "When you request them, also have whoever gets them for you, compare them to the official backup copies. Its an odd request, but it should at least give a good indication if they are legit or not."
Worthington nods. "Precisely sir," he says. "I have an official letter from Captain Shulon should it be required regarding these personnel. I will do as you suggest. We all think that it's far easier to change the database on a single ship versus the Starfleet database as a whole, but if this code is more widespread than we thought, who knows," he says. "I hope we're right and we get some answers."
Kadn shakes his head, "Spacedocks systems predate the existence of the backdoor. It's only ships built at Utopia during or after Hauser's command here. A simple update to a non-infected system wouldn't be enough, it would require a massive refit, something Spacedock hasn't gone through in that time frame. Based on the information we have, I'm confident of which ships need to be ... cleaned."
Worthington nods. "That's a lot of ships sir," he says. "If this was just discovered, are you implying that ships built after Hauser's tenure here may also be infected? That's quite a lot of ships. Basically all aquarius and scorpion class ships, Lexington class, Yorktown class, and possibly others as well. I hope it's not that big, but if it is, well," he says. "That's one hell of a mess the not so good admiral left for us all."
Kadn nods, "Not all the base core builds were compromised, but we'll see if the Hadfield was one that was." He looks again at the small core. "I need to see about getting you that clean image as well. If you will excuse me Lieutenant Commander."
Worthington nods and salutes. "Of course admiral," he says. "Thank you for your time. We all appreciate it."
Kadn nods and smiles, "Don't leave for the Phoenix without speaking to me again. But good luck in your data search."
Worthington nods. "I had no intention of doing so sir," he says.