Once he was done talking to Captain Mitchell, Samuel broke away and headed over to the new arrival in the Observation Lounge.  "Ensign Thompson, glad you could make it," he told the young man.  "As you know, with Lt. Northrop's death, you are now the Chief Intelligence Officer aboard the McNair.  When this crisis is over, Captain Mitchell and I will discuss getting you an official promotion."  Sam knew that it would be hard for an Ensign to be taken seriously as a Chief anything Officer.  Maybe not straight to Lieutenant, but an LT JG might work for him.<br/><br/>"For now," he continued.  "Your orders are as follows.  One: do anything and everything in your power to resolve the current situation.  I would recommend going through your files on cultures to see if there's been any similar situation in a Federation culture, for starters.  Two: assist superior officers when they request your help.  Engineering and Medical are working to solve the problems with the ship and the crew.  Three: stay alive.  Am I understood?"