Marshal (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 12 Jun 2022 @ 6:44pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Ensign Mimi & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Oliver Sylver & Senior Chief Petty Officer Goldie Brown & Petty Officer 1st Class T'Lin & Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeysa Zeror & Cadet Senior Grade Jemima de la Coeur

2,914 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: Alcyone Sector, USS Galileo-A
Timeline: MD 10, 1158 hrs

[ON]

The recondite asteroid field surrounding Cold Station 31 had become a great source of intrigue; not only for the Nova-class and its away teams, but possibly for another visitor who preferred not to announce their presence. Less than eight hours had come to pass since Galileo deployed her investigative teams and the starship was prematurely returning to the cluster of barren planetoids in search of tachyon signatures from an unknown origin. The local cosmos were greeted by a small silver warp blur which elongated then snapped into impulse velocity, signalling the arrival of the science vessel at her destination.

Within the bridge, Commander Morgan Tarin observed the streaking stars on the main viewscreen slow then become stationary. They'd finally arrived back at their original location with the ship still intact, despite pushing the warp core to its limit.

Aria shifted in her seat, eyes on the viewscreen as well. She hated travelling at emergency velocity. It was the knowledge that if something went wrong, it meant either big-bara-boom or no warp drive. You'd survive one, but not the others, and she felt there should have been an exam question at the Academy. When the world outside became more normal, she let out a breath she hadn't realised she had kept inside.

"Captain, we've arrived at the coordinates," Sylver said, stating the obvious, but he knew how it went when you were on the bridge.

"Status report," Tarin called out to the other bridge personnel after confirming the conn's announcement. Her hazel eyes focused back on the command station's tactical display where she searched for any indication of an unwanted visitor or anything out of the ordinary.

"All systems returning to standard cruise levels." Mimi reported as the demand from the warp engines ceased, she left a note on the system to schedule an extended maintenance cycle for the engines, they were going to need it after being pushed hard.

"Power output is down by .006, but all systems are within acceptable parameters," Goldie announced. The poor ship had been pushed, but so far she was responding like a trooper. All she needed was a little TLC and some maintenance and she'd be back to full power. As long as they didn't have to overtax the warp ore before engineering could do a diagnostic.

T'Lin went over the panel and stretched the sensors as much as she could before reporting to the captain. "There is nothing on the short range scanners. However, the asteroid field is interfering. Cadet can you do a fine tune to exclude some of the readings?"

"That's possible," Jemima said. It was more like probably, but she didn't want to say as much in front of the acting captain. "Starting a scan to check tachyon particle levels." At least that was a concrete number. At this point, she was more comfortable with solid data than theories.

The reports from the science alcove added an extra layer of complexity to their new investigation. There were no tachyon signatures currently being detected, but such types of particles didn't linger in space for long. It had taken Galileo almost three hours to transit the local subsector which was more than enough time for their original sensor readings to become obsolete. Tarin drummed her fingertips on her armrest's console then glanced to Rice. "Looks like we missed the shuttletrain. But there might be another arriving soon."

Aria nodded, frowning slightly as she leant forward. "Then we have to be alert to it. De la Coeur, T'Lin, keep doing sensor sweeps of the local area. Anything at all that shows up, however insignificant...flag it," she said, before glancing to Tarin in case she had overstepped.

A nod of approval was given to the new acting first officer. It appeared that for now, they had little choice except to wait and use Galileo's technological talents to hopefully ascertain more information. "Helm, begin a standard search grid pattern at impulse. Keep us outside of the asteroid field and coordinate with Science," ordered Tarin. The tall brown-haired commander motioned behind her to the young Trill yeoman. "New note in the log; 'Stardate 69348.3. Returned to the vicinity of Cold Station 31. No tachyon emissions present on sensors. Establishing search pattern and continuing to investigate. End'."

Oliver waited until the acting Captain had done the entry. "Yes, Captain, doing standard search grid pattern on impulse," he acknowledged, doing as ordered.

"69348.3, no emissions, search pattern." Jeysa repeated Tarin's words quietly to herself as she typed out the log entry.

Commander Tarin once again regarded Rice. "Lieutenant." Her head motioned to the bridge's port exit which led to the conference room. It was a subtle indication she wanted a word in private. "Walk with me."

Aria looked at her, giving a small nod as she stood. "I take it Ensign Mimi has the bridge?" she asked, in a hushed tone, because if they were both away from the bridge someone else needed to be there in charge.

Standing up from her seat alongside Rice, Tarin confirmed the new temporary officer of the deck. "She does." The volume of her voice rose with authority when she addressed the deputy operations manager. "Ensign Mimi, you have the conn. We'll be back shortly." With long leg strides, Morgan walked up from the command well to the bridge's exit, then out into the small corridor on Deck 1.

Mimi's ears perked up when Tarin addressed her. "Aye Captain." She said after a moment, glancing at the now vacant center chair she thought about it for a moment but erred on the side of caution and stayed at the ops station.


Conference Room

The door to the ship's conference room hissed open when Tarin and Rice approached. The captain stepped inside when waited for her counterpart to join her before sharing several private thoughts.

Aria followed her in, letting the door swish shut behind her. She kept herself standing and still, not quite meeting the other woman's eyes. The conference room itself was a room Aria hadn't had much chance visiting in her career. She had on occasion taken an Assistant Chief's role, so she had been here if the Chief had been busy. But apart from that, she had always been too low in rank to come. And here she was. Chief Security Officer and in this case...acting First Officer.

Morgan clasped her hands professionally behind her back then slowly paced to the nearest viewport where she stopped to stare toward the surrounding cosmos. "I don't like this," she tersely revealed. "Something is here near the cold station with us even if our sensors can't detect it. I've always trusted my instincts and they've never disappointed." She remained quiet for several seconds while contemplating the unknown. "Your thoughts? Are we dealing with Klingons? Romulans? Something else?"

Aria watched the woman's back, frowning as she considered it. "If there is something out there that is not natural...I don't think it is Romulans or Klingons," she said, thinking it over. "There's not enough evidence that either of their technology, at this time, would be able to hide this much from us. So...either one of them have their hands on something new that no one in the Federation has seen...or, whatever they've doing in that station has drawn something else here." She stopped and exhaled, tipping her head back almost tiredly, looking up at the ceiling. "It could be natural. It could be extrasolar. It could be Romulans or Klingons. Not very helpful, I know..." she added the last apologetically to the acting Captain.

A myriad of possibilities started to race through Tarin's mind. She found solace in knowledge and intelligence, not the unknown. Which, as she'd been forced to admit several times in her career, made it challenging for her to navigate uncertain paths. "You and Lieutenant Commander Sandoval conducted tactical research on the Klingon Empire the other day. Did she tell you why it was of interest?" she wondered.

Aria's pale blue eyes watched the other woman before she gave a small smile. "No, Captain. Only that you wanted us do research the last 50 years of Klingon-ness," she said, before she frowned. "Although my guess based on what I have seen lately is that you suspect Klingon involvement in all of this, pretty much from the get-go. More so than Romulan."

Turning from the window, Morgan stared back into the other woman's eyes then nodded. "Starfleet Command has been tracking an unknown contact in this sector for several months...well before Galileo's arrival. It has appeared intermittently on passive sensors to several of our transiting starships, but only fleetingly. Intelligence believes its technology is...cutting-edge; able to evade our most thorough long-range sensor scans. For the most part. Comms intercepts and reports from our operatives all but confirm the Klingon Empire has assets operating in this region of space." She glanced down to the carpet then back up to the security chief. "I should have told you earlier, but this information is classified."

"It would have been helpful, as your Chief of Security, to have known of that risk," Aria said, a little bluntly, but then gave a small shrug. She walked around the room, clearly thinking for a moment. "So if it is Klingons, my question is this...why the cloak and daggers? There's a reason why Klingon hulls and shields are strongest on front...Klingons do not run from a fight." She looked at Tarin, stopping. "There is someone else operating in this area though, someone we haven't necessarily considered. But you might accuse me of being a conspiracy theorist."

Tarin tilted her head with intrigue to the shorter dark-haired woman. "Whatever theories you have, I want to know. We're out here now, alone. No admiral sitting at their desk back at San Fransisco can help us now."

"Alright, the other entity or player or whatever you'd like to call it out here...is us. Starfleet," Aria said before she gave a weak smile. "We are checking out radio silence from a base I have never heard of, in an area of space that is sketchy. What if...what if the signature we're seeing isn't Romulan, or Klingon...but Federation? Some sort of top secret spy prototype vessel? Now, Starfleet would never tell anyone, because if we had tech like that, then...well, why would people trust us? Doesn't even have to be Starfleet, could be a civilian organisation..." she stopped before she finally smiled. "A bit far fetched, but maybe that is why we are just being watched, not attacked? Because they already know all they need to know about us, they're just making sure we don't mess with something they got going on."

Morgan's eyes widened with incredulity. The implications of such subterfuge and R&D required to test such a technology...against their own people? She couldn't believe it. The notion went against all of her morals, training and ethos she'd learned from a young age as the daughter of two career Starfleet officers. "Lieutenant, are you suggesting this is all a ruse for a covert Starfleet operation?" Her hazel eyes narrowed with scrutiny.

"I am suggesting that perhaps, we don't know the whole story about what happens out here," Aria said, holding her eyes as the smile faded. "I am not saying that it is connected, per say. The station and this, could both be Federation, but unrelated. That our mission is genuine, but something else is using it as a training exercise. Now, our options realistically are this...it is Romulans. It is Klingons. It is us. Or it is something extrasolar, a species we have not encountered before. It would be remiss of me not to consider all options," she added the last quietly, the way Tarin was watching her unsettling her. "I'm just...saying that Starfleet hasn't always been a hundred percent open about what is happening in its...depths."

The lieutenant's last sentence was a statement she couldn't disagree with. "No...they haven't," Tarin conceded, especially following the incident at the Latari system which this crew had intimate knowledge of and remained classified at the highest level to all Federation citizens. She pushed both of her hands through the brown hair on her temples then calmed her emotions. "I appreciate your honesty. You've given me a lot to think about. For better or worse. Mostly worse. But let's get back to the bridge. I have an idea."

"Ideas are good. I like ideas, Captain," Aria said and gave a small nod, taking a deeper breath and clearly taking a moment to compose herself, for returning to the bridge. She felt very much out of her depth with this all.

The conference room's door swished open then shut behind the two senior officers. Together, they briskly walked back to the bridge whose own entrance parted to signal their return. Tarin walked down the steps and resumed her station at her seat.


Bridge

Aria followed closely to Tarin, walking to retake her seat, glancing over a Mimi. She thought that maybe, it would do her good at times to take the bridge properly. She could mention it to Blake when she was back. When the world was a bit more right.

"I have the conn," Tarin relieved Mimi.

"You have the conn Sir, nothing to report." Mimi replied glad that nothing important had happened during her brief foray into running the ship.

The brief handover was confirmed and the data displayed on Tarin's console confirmed the ensign's report. Her thoughts were now focused on a new course of action; one inspired by her acting-XO's candor and input. "Cadet de la Coeur," she spoke to the science stations, "can we reconfigure the secondary deflector array to emit an active gravitic sensor pulse?"

"Aye, ma'am," Jemima said. She knew it was possible, and knew how to do it. But this particular situation made her nervous. "It may take a couple of minutes, but yeah, it's do-able."

"Get started and let me know when we're ready to transmit," ordered Tarin. Her plan - if it could be classified as one - would no doubt reveal the location of Galileo to any nearby starships or entities which might be lurking. It was a calculated risk she'd hoped she wouldn't have to take, but current circumstances indicated their initial subterfuge has been unsuccessful.

"Yes, ma'am," Jemima said again. She took a deep breath and began to make the proper adjustments. Fortunately, it wasn't that difficult and she'd been reviewing the duties of the secondary science station--just in case.

Morgan looked to her immediate left to inform her XO of her intentions. "The second we transmit this pulse, anyone within this subsector grid will know we're here," she cautioned. "But I think that concern's already passed. Our lure didn't catch any suspects and the mission priority is to protect the cold station and our away teams. That now means identifying any other vessel that might be operating out here. If there's a cloaked ship, we're going to find it."

Aria nodded, holding her eyes for a long moment. "Let's play bait," she said quietly. "And see if anyone bites."

The red-collared captain leaned forward while inputting commands into her console's small LCARS screen. "We're not playing bait anymore... Now, we're hunting." Her hushed inflection conveyed the severity of their pending actions. "Cadet, on your mark, initiate the pulse when we're ready." Preparations from Tarin's console continued in anticipation of their next course of action. The holographic main viewscreen's image of space and the surrounding stars now displayed a superimposed top-down grid overlay. Galileo's current position at the center of the map was denoted by a gold Starfleet icon with estimated range rings of the gravitic scan's diameter denoting points of spacial reference.

Jemima nodded. She really wanted to bounce, more out of nerves than excitement, but fought the urge. She watched the display, waiting for the indicated that the deflector array was ready. Finally, all was ready. "Activating now."

The secondary deflector array embedded at the fore of USS Galileo's saucer section began to glow with increasing luminescence. Within a matter of seconds, the charging gravitic sensor pulse reached full dispersion power then fired, releasing an omnidirectional burst of invisible yet highly-charged particles out across the surrounding area of space.

"Pulse is away captain. Monitoring spread with reflection and or absorption." T'Lin concentrated on the readings.

The tension was building within the bridge while the officers and NCOs awaited the results. Seconds started to feel like minutes and Tarin's fingertips silently drummed against the top of her kneecaps. A distinctive computer chirp suddenly sounded and pierced the quiet.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

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

Lt. Aria Rice
Acting XO/Chief Security Officer
USS Galileo-A

Cadet Senior Grade Jemima de la Coeur
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Sandoval]

PO1 Goldie Brown
Operations Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Sandoval]

Ensign Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

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

PO1 T'Lin
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Warraquim]

CWO2 Oliver Sylver
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rice]

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