Moving in the shadows

Posted on 18 Jan 2017 @ 5:10pm by Captain Jonathan Holliday & General ('aj) Ko'raH House of G'Iogh

1,099 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 13 - Rogue
Location: Earth - Starfleet Academy
Timeline: MD 03 - 1100 hrs

[ON]

Commander Aiklan strode down the Academy halls with a PADD clutched in his hand. Several cadets and students passed him by along the way, each offering him a courtesy nod which he returned curtly in kind and with nothing more than a forced smile. Under normal circumstances, the advanced starship combat instructor would have taken time to chat with each of them about their end-of-semester performance, but the news he held in his hand was urgent. Not only for himself, but for his friend and fellow instructor.

Aiklan rounded the corner of the hallway then came to a stop in front of Holliday's door. A fellow Martian of the same age and same graduating class, he'd known the captain for what had seemed like ages. Not only had they come from the same home colony, but they'd both been tactical-minded individuals who'd shared much in common over the years. He considered Holliday a friend despite his superior position as assistant dean, and he gritted his teeth as he pressed the door chime and wondered how he could best relay the distressing news he'd learned.

"Enter!" Holliday replied, his desk covered by various exam results, reviews for the following semester, and the occasional now-depleted raktajino cup.

As the doors opened, the Captain looked up from his desk to see the face of Commander Aiklan, and immediately felt more at ease than had it been another member of the faculty.

"Commander. Good to see you - to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"You too, John," Aiklan replied while taking notice of the student coursework submissions and semester reviews which littered his workstation. "Afraid it's a bit of bad news. I know you're already busy with student and instructor evaluations and all that, but figured this couldn't wait. I know you'd find out about it eventually so I wanted to give you the latest intel from command."

The red-collared commander stepped closer and held out the PADD he'd been holding in his hand. "It's about Galileo, your old posting. I think we lost her," he said solemnly, offering the fellow Martian the SITREP.

Holliday's complexion turned a pale shade of white as he took the PADD from his colleague and quickly read through the front of the report, before switching quickly to analysis further inside. Transponder codes, last reported position, the last system report sent from the monitoring software embedded in every starship, the lot, and then the silence that followed.

"This....looks like she was lost in combat? See here - the final status update their system transponder sent shows her operating with her weapons online....dammit she wasn't cut out for combat!"

Jonathan slammed the PADD down on his desk. He had held the dubious honour of having taken the Nova-class into battle on more than one occasion, and granted whilst the Galileo was well-equipped as a science vessel, she was nothing compared to more combat-ready starships in the fleet.

"Have Command decided on next steps? Is there a rescue mission being planned?"

The Captain asked candidly, already planning to get himself out to the Galileo's last known coordinates. With the students away for the end of semester break, there was no immediate operational reason that he needed to stay planetside, and there were plenty of fast ships docked in Earth orbit that could be commandeered if so necessary.

Aiklan shook his head and averted his eyes to the floor. "It's not that simple, John. Their last reported contact was in the Paulson Nebula perimeter...and we both know that's the worse place to lose contact with a starship. Our long-range sensors can't penetrate the nebula's EM interference and the little data we could get from Galileo came from a passing civilian vessel outfitted for stellar nursery observation. I hope I don't have to remind you about Captain Picard using the nebula to evade the Borg. If he was able to elude their sensor scans while in the--"

"I don't care!" Jonathan exclaimed loudly, slamming the PADD down on his desk as he listened to the excuses being conveyed. He knew fine well that the Paulson nebula was a difficult environment to track a starship in, but it had to be possible. Starfleet had some of the most advanced sensor technologies anywhere in the quadrant, and it was about time they got put to use.

"If long range sensors aren't up to the task then we need to do something short range, and that means getting a ship out there. I need to speak with Command."

Aiklan interjected and held out a hand to slow Holliday down. "There's already a couple vessels searching, boss. A civilian ship that was passing through the area was one of the first to offer help, and two more were dispatched yesterday. It's a dangerous area to operate in...seems there's an incident or two there every year in which a starship vanishes or runs into trouble. Some claim it's pirates but others think ships just get lost in the nebula and can't find their way out. We can't really know for certain without putting more captains at risk."

Holliday was unsure of what exactly to do. That was his ship - or at least, it had been for a while. And they were his people, but now he was helpless, stranded on a planet light-years away whilst he had to rely on others to do their jobs to his standards.

"Then what do you suggest Commander?"

"Well..." Aiklan paused and put a thumb to his chin in thought before leaning closer. "I can't help get you out from behind that desk but I can probably send you some intel. I still have a few connections at Starfleet Command and I know one of the tactical officers on one of the vessels that just deployed. I might even be able to get a priority transmission out there for you?" he offered.

"Do it." Holliday said with a curt nod; the kind of nod to which anyone that knew him showed appreciation, but might have looked rather bland to anyone else.

"And Commander....thank you."

The fellow Academy instructor offered a sympathetic smile and nodded to his dean. "Meet me tonight at 2230 in the garden. I'll give you the transponder codes and comm relay frequencies so you can contact USS Atlas," he said, then turned and departed the office with a final swish of the door.


[OFF]

--

CMDR Mathias Aiklan
Tactical Course Instructor
Starfleet Academy
[PNPC Ko'raH]

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Associate Dean of Tactical Operations
Starfleet ACademy

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