Cold Scheme (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 12 Mar 2022 @ 6:54pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Commander Scarlet Blake & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Commander Marisa Wyatt & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Lieutenant JG Tris Shizn & Lieutenant JG Karras & Ensign Mimi & Lieutenant JG Sofie Ullswater & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kala Marika & Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeysa Zeror
Edited on on 12 Mar 2022 @ 6:57pm

3,284 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 1, Conference Room
Timeline: MD 10, 0057 hrs

[ON]

In the depths of space within the Pleiades Cluster, the Nova-class starship USS Galileo streaked through the stars at maximum sustained warp. Five full days had almost elapsed since the vessel's emergency departure from its new home port, Regula I. Little was known to the crew about their destination or the circumstances which required an abundance of mission secrecy. Morale had dipped to questionable levels during the short hop, but the ship's personnel were performing admirably in the face of the unknown. Five days. It could feel like a year without any clear direction of the future.

The short journey was coming to an end, however, and Galileo was now less than five hours away from its objective and rapidly approaching her final waypoint. The hour was late and most of the alpha shift crew were in their bunks for the evening. Nevertheless, inside the starship's conference room paced the acting Human captain, Commander Morgan Tarin. The ship's small briefing chamber was located on Deck 1 just across from the bridge and senior-most officers' quarters. A most convenient location, Tarin had come to appreciate.

A light tap on Morgan's commbadge was proceeded by a chirp. "This is the captain. All department heads and senior officers report to the conference room for mission update. Petty Officer Zeror and Ensign Ullswater, you two as well."

Catching up on some paperwork in the ready room Jeysa quickly stood and filed it away, ran her hands down her uniform to smooth it out and headed out across the bridge into the conference room. "Captain." She said.

Lieutenant Aria Rice groaned softly and pushed herself out of bed, stretching her arms above her head, which made her tee shirt ride up and expose her stomach. She reached down to scratch it before shaking her head, to try and wake herself up. With a groan she went to the bathroom, quickly getting herself ready as quickly as she could, which she had shaved down to a few minutes since she had taken a shower before bed. Did the Captain ever sleep? She managed to balance getting dressed and knocking back some coffee and only missed her mouth once. She finished with tying her hair back and tried not to think about how tired she already felt as she made her way to the conference room. She walked in, looking at Tarin. "Captain," she said, her voice quiet before she went to a seat and stood beside it. If they were going to be by the book, Aria would take the book and use it as a weapon and something to stand on.

Blake watched the back of Aria with how close she was on the heels of the petite Chief of Security, making her way to her customary seat. She looked her usual self, nothing out of place to suggest what she may or may not have been doing before arrival. The fact she wore her hair in a simple ponytail was the only hint that she might have been in more of a rush to get to the meeting than usual.

In the mess hall Mimi had not long sat down to eat after her shift had ended, she had been thinking about a nice fillet of chicken all shift. "Oh come on...." she said when the call came in. Taking her plate she took it over to the recycler and put everything but the chicken fillet in then headed for the door, deliberately walking slowly so she had time to eat it on the way she eventually arrived at the conference room. "Captain, Commander." She greeted the officers then found a seat opposite Aria and gave the woman a small smile.

Allyndra was wondering if this was all a conspiracy to keep her away from command. The workout sessions, the astrometrics, and now a briefing all during her watch. Again, she ended up turning over the watch and headed to the conference room. As the doors parted she just said, "Good morning," before moving to the end of the table furthest away from the head. She did not take a seat yet. She would wait until Captain Tarin indicated she was ready for them.

Following close beside Allyndra as she came from the bridge was Ensign Ullswater. Being called by name to this meeting was already leaving her anxious. She wasn't senior staff but it felt like she had been in enough of these meetings now that it almost felt like she was. She avoided making eye contact with anyone as she moved to take a seat. She couldn't imagine the Tarin had a very high opinion of her after her performances in the recent mornings, so as she sat and waited for the others her mind turned over the possibilities of why she might be here.

Tris had received the call from the Captain as he lay in bed reading. The day had been full, and he had prepared himself for bed and trying to relax his mind. How infuriating! he thought when he laid the book down on the bed and pulled the sheet away. Yet after quickly rising, and dressing in his uniform over his cooling suit, the Andorian made quick time to Deck 1. Entering the conference room, he nodded and tried to smile at the other senior officers present. He couldn’t bring himself to say the proper words.

Karras had been in a deep sleep, and it took him a moment to get out of bed. His did his best to suppress the frustration of having a briefing at this hour, when they had been traveling for days and there had been countless opportunities to clarify their mission. He considered reporting to the conference room in his robe and slippers but decided it would be a juvenile provocation that wouldn't be worth the disruption it would cause. He slipped into a fresh uniform and checked his attitude, managing an actual smile when arrived and slipped into a seat near the end where Allyndra stood. Departmental solidarity and all that.

As Tris and Karras arrived Allyndra just gave them a little nod of the head and greeted them as well. "Seems as if gamma shift has been the active shift lately. I know this is not working on some of your sleep cycles, if you need to, please stop by medical afterwards."

Aria looked at Allyndra before she gave her a nod, to acknowledge what she was saying. Although she preferred the natural approach...collapsing for catnaps when she could, then back to it when needed. She made a note to start sleeping half-dressed.

Tris appreciated the Commander’s concern, nodding to her with a slight smile.

Marisa walked in and nodded to the others assembled. She was no longer surprised at the odd meetings the acting captain favored. As a Vulcan, she could go for days with little sleep. She preferred not to. She sat down and pulled out a PADD for notes.

Kala was among the last of the staff to arrive. With her bosses rather rapid departure from Galileo, she'd been playing catchup on some paperwork, paperwork she used to do back in her days at the Fleet yard. She came in, her favorite mug full of liquid pick me up, a good strong blend of Terran and Bajoran coffee, setting herself down at one of the free seats.

The small briefing room was now at capacity. Morgan's gaze swept across the familiar faces assembled before gesturing for them to sit. "I know It's late, but we have work to do." The acting captain waited a short moment for all to be seated before walking in front of the large wall-mounted LCARS screen. She clasped a large silver PADD between her hands and assumed a professional posture. "We'll be arriving at our destination in approximately four-point-five hours. It's time you know the truth about our mission and where we're going." The departure orientation five days ago had intentionally been short and sparse on details. The integrity of the search and rescue operation demanded secrecy.

"The research station we've been tasked to investigate and are approaching...is what is known as a 'cold station'. This one, specifically, is designated Cold Station 31," Tarin revealed."Cold stations are highly-specialized research facilities unofficially associated with the United Federation of Planets. They exist and are operated by the Federation, but technically do not exist. Knowledge of cold station operations is classified above top secret - even I am not privy to the types of research they conduct or the number and locations of them all." A stern look was given to each of Galileo's officers sitting at the table. "That makes everything discussed in this briefing classified. Level 10 clearance. Understood?"

Counselor Karras fixed his eyes on the table, has face ashen, a knot in his stomach. Secrets. More secrets. Information so confidential that it was not only ranked, but considered to be the most restrictive of all. Had the Federation learned nothing from its history, from its near disaster with the Ba'ku? He wondered what "Level" the mission to relocate his village had been designated.

Rice looked at Tarin, her features neutral. This meant she had to keep silent with her department. It meant hiding information. It made her uncomfortable, as a concept, that her people would go in somewhat blind if it came to it. But, then again, wasn't it Aria's job to find ways of informing her team without disclosing anything that would break the classified nature of the mission? She mulled on it for a brief second before dismissing it. Not enough data. She would have to listen and then ask, depending.

Marisa didn't react to the news. But she did glance around, noting the reactions of others. She paused when she looked at the counselor. She'd yet to meet with him. Perhaps she should.

Mimi's ears twitched a few times, Level 10 clearance usually meant trouble, big trouble. Whatever these 'cold stations' were they were probably barely legal.

The left antenna rose up slightly when Shizn took in the information about this secret base. The Andorians had always had secrets, but that is what Tris gad always appreciated about the Federation was their minimum amount of secrets. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know any more of this particular high level secret. Yet, he would perform his role without hesitation, and let the ‘carbon-dioxide crystals fall where they may’.

The acting captain continued the mission briefing. "Cold Station 31 is required to check in with local strategic operations - me - every 24 hours according to standard procedure. Ever since I was posted to my position on Regula I two years ago, the station never missed a comms window. They've now been silent since the night of Galileo arrival at the starbase, and they've missed nine check-ins as of zero-hundred hours this evening." Tarin's hazel eyes displayed subtle hints of agitation. "If a cold station misses more than two comms windows, operational protocol is to immediately dispatch the closest starship in order to ascertain the status of the facility and its crew. That's us, and that's why we're here."

Morgan turned from the table and stepped to the side of the large LCARS monitor which displayed a simple UFP emblem on a black background. She looked down to her PADD then tapped at its touch-screen interface. It didn't take long before the LCARS screen blinked; the Federation insignia was suddenly replaced with a colorful top-down sector chart of their current position and surrounding space. USS Galileo's location was marked with a gold commbadge icon along with a fading azure course line indicating its path of travel since departing Regula I. In close proximity to the Nova-class' icon was a similar symbol appearing in light green. The cold station. Surrounding it on all sides was a tight cluster of small white dots in an otherwise unremarkable section of the Pleiades Cluster. Tarin magnified the view to expand the close-up navigation plot of the cold station.

"As you can see, Cold Station 31 is located within this asteroid field," she pointed to the screen with her index finger then made a circular motion around the research facility's icon. "The next waypoint in our navigation system will drop us out of warp roughly within the outer edge of the field." There was a short pause during which Tarin turned back to the senior crew. "From here, I'd planned on taking Galileo directly into the cluster to the station's location. But I've been monitoring a new development with the assistance of Commanders Blake, Sandoval and Warraquim."

She again tapped at her silver PADD then looked back at the LCARS screen. A new light gray course line manifested on the chart plot which seemed to mimic that of Galileo's. The travel trajectory didn't quite line up, however, with visible discrepancies in azimuth due to a lack of definitive data. "It seems we have a tail. Something - which I assume to be a starship capable of matching our warp 8 velocity - has been shadowing us in our warp wake since our departure from Regula I. We've only been able to obtain intermittent contacts using passive sensors whenever we changed course. It seems to be maintaining a distance far enough away to avoid our short-range sensor scans."

Tarin shook her head. "We don't know what it is, but I believe it to be a starship. Possibly Klingon, based on local intelligence reports from Starfleet Command. Not cloaked, or else we wouldn't have detected it at long-range distance. Similar sporadic sensor readings of this contact were reported by other Starfleet vessels in this region over the last six months. It remains a mystery, but one we can't take any chances with. We still have a job to do and a research station possibly in distress."

The acting captain's hands fell to her waist along with her PADD. Her eyes were now focused back on the officers at the table. "This operation remains a search and rescue mission. Find the cold station, contact the crew, and offer any aid if needed. In the case of a catastrophic failure, evacuate all personnel and destroy the station. My plan is to maintain Galileo's current course and heading. Once we drop out of warp in the asteroid field, I want to deploy two away teams in shuttlecraft. Each with five personnel. Our Type 6s are old but they'll get the job done. Their low profiles will hopefully go undetected by whatever ship is following us, giving our teams a chance to conduct their mission. Galileo will change course immediately after launching our away teams in an attempt to draw our tail away from the asteroid field."

Aria considered what was said, taking it all in. So the two away teams could, potentially, be stranded there for some time if the Galileo was playing hide and seek with an unknown ship. "Do you have an idea yet of the personnel that will be on those two away teams, Captain?" she asked, not expecting it, but hopeful.

"I do," Tarin promptly replied. She glanced back down to her PADD where she'd prepared the assignments. "Shuttlecraft Virginia will take Commanders Blake and Warraquim, Lieutenant Shizn, and Ensigns Ullswater and Turell. Designated 'alpha' team. Shuttlecraft Livia will take Commander Sandoval, Lieutenant Karras, Chief Warrant Officers Darius and Marika, and Petty Officer Third Class Vansen. Designated 'charlie' team." A pause ensued during which she focused her eyes on all of those she'd named who were present in the room. "Questions so far?"

Mimi made several notes on a PADD, detailing what equipment was likely to be needed by the away teams and to detail a group to prep both of the shuttles for an upcoming operation.

"Just a couple, Captain, in regards to the away team Charlie. There is not anyone from Security on that team," Aria said, looking at the woman, holding her eyes. "I would also recommend not to have the First and Second officer on the same team..." she looked around, at the others, a look of mild apology on her features. "If something were to happen with Virginia, or alpha team, we would be down two in the direct chain of command." She looked back at Tarin, a weak smile coming to her. And this was strange. She had never before been in a position where she could say these things and be listened to, regardless of outcome. "It is just my recommendation, Captain."

Morgan nodded at the obvious. The same quandary had consumed her thoughts for the past two evenings while searching through the Nova-class' manifest to assemble the appropriate personnel. "Galileo doesn't have a full security compliment at the moment. And Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius...according to my records," her head was in her PADD again, "is a former Starfleet Marine sergeant who saw combat action in the last war. Commander Blake is also a former Marine. I trust their experience and training. Unless you're volunteering, lieutenant?" she scrutinized Rice.

Aria looked at her, giving it the consideration it deserved. "I am," she finally said, looking at Tarin. "Or Stark goes, he has extensive hazard team training. I do trust Chief Darius, but even taking Commander Blake's record into this, Alpha team has Turell. Charlie Team, even with Darius, would in comparison be down one...person who is up to date on current defence and weaponry and able to keep the away team safe." She considered softening it, but decided against it. Last time I didn't speak up loudly enough, half my away team died and I was stitched up like a kipper and demoted.

The acting captain appeared visibly surprised. The security chief had called her bluff. Which she privately admired, but couldn't convey in a public setting. "Request denied," Tarin shook her head forcefully. "I won't leave Galileo with only one security officer on board. If the plan to draw our unknown visitor away doesn't work, we might end up in trouble." The needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. Or so it'd been drilled into her at the Academy.

"As for Commander Warraquim," Tarin looked at the Akkadian, "she is first and foremost our chief medical officer, and a doctor. Her expertise is needed where there is very little on her team." There wasn't much more for her to add on the subject. She shifted her attention back to the collective group. "I don't know what our away teams will find at the cold station. Hopefully a severe comms malfunction that can be fixed in a day. You'll need to trust each other and your abilities. Nothing out here goes according to plan in my experience."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CMDR Morgan Tarin
Acting Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Saalm]

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo-A

Lieutenant Commander Marisa Sandoval
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

LTjg Tris Shizn
Senior Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Karras
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo-A

Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Second and Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A

Ensign Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

PO3 Jeysa Zeror
Yeoman
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]

Lt. Aria Rice
Chief of Security
USS Galileo-A

ENS Sofie Ullswater
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

CWO2 Kala Marika
Deputy Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A

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