A New Lead (Part 1)
Posted on Thu Nov 23rd, 2023 @ 11:31pm by Commander Patricia Cooke & Lieutenant Charlotte E. "Charlie" Yeager & Lieutenant Commander Tsukasa Izumi & Lieutenant Commander Lahki Bakshi Dr & Major Achilles Aurelius & Lieutenant Akira Kogami & Lieutenant Zelea Arlidd & Lieutenant JG Danielle Sidney
1,529 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
From the Inside
Location: Briefing Room, Deck 1
Timeline: January 14, 2400
Captain's log, Stardate 47634.44:
Ever since the Missouri's commissioning two weeks ago, our orders have been to find and stop I-400. However, I-400 is proving most elusive, as each time we respond to an I-400 sighting, we arrive too late; only able to provide relief for the victims of these attacks. Each time, the victims speak of the same thing: Mechanical looking women with bad hair coloring coming in and wrecking the place, though some also speak of strange visions: Mostly old memories, and of a figure too fast for them to see.
I must admit, it is quite troubling to be chasing leads on an opponent who seems to be several steps ahead of us. Though I hope that our luck is soon to change:
Patricia stood in the Missouri's conference room. She had called a meeting of her senior staff to discuss the newest lead on I-400 found by Lieutenant Sidney. Patricia was also well aware of the fact that despite having been in command of the Missouri for two weeks now, and having held a few senior staff meetings in that time, her senior staff save for Akira were still practically strangers, so on the agenda of this meeting was to, after the intel was discussed, have a first team-building function of sorts.
"Oh well I roam from town to town,
I go through life without a care,
'Til I'm as happy as a clown,
With my two fists of iron and I'm going nowhere..."
Patricia smiled. Speak of the devil...
"Sounds like someone's in a good mood," she remarked as Akira entered the room.
"Just keeping up morale the only way I know how," Akira replied as she took her seat. "At this point, we've gotta count our blessings that I-400 hasn't found some way to hack into the Missouri's mainframe yet..."
"Given all the incidents we've responded to so far, I'd say hacking into our mainframe seems to be low on I-400's list of priorities." Patricia commented.
“Greetings” Zelea offered when she entered but noticed the Captain was speaking, so she found an appropriate seat.
Lahki was next through the door, clutching a cup of coffee, a PADD, and in her mouth, her tricorder. She had forgotten her lab jacket in the office the night before, and hadn't had time to go get it yet, and the uniform pockets weren't deep enough to carry the things she'd needed. Besides, even if they had been, hers were always stuffed with band-aids, gloves, and assorted vials and lids to such. She set the coffee down, put the PADD down, and then put the Tricorder in her less-full right pocket before sitting down. "Good morning," she said, cheerfully.
"Morning, Doc, Arlidd." Patricia responded to her doctor and engineer with a smile.
The next officer through the door was Charlie. With no Chief of Flight Control, Charlie was the highest ranking helmswoman on the ship, and as such, she was obligated to attend senior staff meetings. Having left the CONN station in the care of a junior flight control officer, Charlie entered the briefing room with a half-drank latte in hand, having replicated the beverage earlier.
"Morning, Captain." Charlie greeted as she assumed a seat.
"Morning, Yeager." Patricia contemplated asking if Commander Izumi was still on the bridge, but decided to leave well enough alone at a simple greeting.
Major Aurelius entered the room in a perfectly pressed service uniform before pausing a moment to salute the captain, and then stood with his arms folded behind him, looking out of the window. He waited for the rest of the command staff to arrive so that the meeting could begin.
He hated waiting for Starfleet naval personnel. For some reason they didn't seem to be as efficient and active as the Marines, unless they were in combat, and even that wasn't consistent. At least that was his personal experience on previous postings.
Next to arrive was Tsukasa, the ships first officer. She seemed visably tired as she walked in. She looked around at the others already in the room and then took her normal seat to the Captains right side.
Danielle ran to the room and took her seat. "Apologies for being late" she said.
Patricia nodded as Danielle took her seat.
"Alright, everyone's here, so we can begin:" Patricia declared. "I'm sure we all know the frustration that has been plaguing our mission as of late: Every lead, every piece of intel we manage to glean on I-400, by the time we arrive at the destination in question, I-400 has already beaten us to the punch. But, hopefully, our luck is about to change: I know I've said it about a dozen times before, but this time, I think I really mean it. Thanks to the valiant efforts of Lieutenant Sidney, Starfleet intelligence has determined I-400's next target, and for once, it's within striking distance for us!"
Patricia clicked a button on a table and above the table flickered the holographic image of a star system:
"May I present to you, System HW-35:" She continued. "An uninhabited system that is home to a Dilithium-rich asteroid belt at its outer edge. It is estimated that the amount of Dilithium present in System HW-35's asteroid belt could power the entire Federation fleet for the next 300 years."
"The perfect target for a rogue AI with machinations of tearing down society," Akira commented. "If intelligence is to be believed that I-400 is planning on obtaining a vast amount of Dilithium, who knows what something like that might entail?"
"As it is, the system is already home to an illegal Dilithium mine run by this fine fellow:" Patricia clicked a button on her control panel and the holgraphic image changed to that of a Ferengi man. "Meet Klawe: While everyone else was fawning over the Heartfilia system located only five light years away, Klawe happened upon System HW-35, and has been utilizing its Dilithium-rich asteroid belt to line his pockets."
"So, if I-400 were looking for a vast amount of Dilithium, Klawe would be its guy?" Charlie asked.
"A keen observation, Yeager." Patricia responded. "While we still don't know what I-400 intends to use a large amount of Dilithium for, we do have the range and capability to intercept:"
Patricia clicked over to a star map.
"If we were to make for it at maximum warp, we'd arrive at System HW-35 within twenty four hours." She explained. "Yeager, this would entail bringing the Missouri up to Warp 9.99 for 12 of those hours."
"You can count on me to get the job done, Captain." Charlie responded.
"Er, with all due respect, Captain," Akira was quick to point out. "The Ferengi Commerce Authority is very protective of its merchants; even if this 'Klawe' were to be mining dilithium illegally, do we have the proper warrant to be going after him?"
"The Ferengi Commerce Authority hates Klawe's guts, so they were more than willing to cooperate on this matter." Patricia explained. "At the very least, they've promised to stay out of our way."
Zelea had minimal interaction with Ferengi. She would be keeping a close eye on the engines and warp core.
"Engineering, are the engines broken in enough for us to go to maximum speed?" Patricia asked.
Arlidd looked up from the console she was running a diagnostic at. “I’d say we should be ready for maximum velocity” the Engineer knew 9.975 was maximum warp for the Missouri.
"Very well." Patricia nodded. "I'll be needing warp 9.99 if we're going to be making System HW-35 before I-400 does."
Lahki had been listening quietly. "Even if all of this is true, are we sure it's uninhabited?" She didn't have time for surprise ambushes-she was getting too old for that. "And I will prepare for taking in...indentured servants," she said, carefully. "Any idea where they're from? Are they other Ferengi?"
"As recently as two years ago, a Tellarite freighter bound for the Heartfilia system went off course and found themselves in System HW-35. They knew they were in the wrong place when they didn't pick up any life signs on their sensors." Patricia explained. "Though they did note in their logs that they detected some sort of vast, sprawling structures, perhaps indicative of the system having been inhabited long ago, but understandably, the Tellarite crew was more concerned with getting to their destination, so they didn't investigate further."
"As for the presence of indentured servants..." Patricia said. "Most of Klawe's men work for him willingly. If we do take prisoners, they will have to be restrained until we can repatriate them to Ferenginar, at which point the Ferengi Alliance will be more than happy to deal with them."
Lahki sighed but nodded. She understood. "Got it, Captain, thanks," she said. That wasn't the news she'd wanted.
Patricia turned to Akira and Achilles.
"Security, Marines, we'll be beaming into a hostile situation. I want you to make sure everyone you pick for away teams are competent with a phaser." She said. "It's likely Klawe won't be keen on talking."
To be continued...
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