Hailing USS Caliban
Posted on Sun Aug 2nd, 2020 @ 4:12pm by Lieutenant Dessame Sar & Lieutenant Commander P’rel M.D
Mission:
The Shadow of Arachne
Location: Intelligence Suite
Timeline: MD0
2295 words - 4.6 OF Standard Post Measure
P’rel walked into the dark suite, the only light coming from the glow of the handful of wall consoles and monitors around the room. It was small but functional, a good sized office space where two or three people could work without being on top of each other all day. “Lights” she ordered the computer, setting her PADD down on a working surface as the room illuminated. She was on to something, she could feel it. The traditional Vulcan method of pure logic was so limited in her view; to take humanity as an example, the ‘look before you leap’ instinct was something her people had lost to time and in doing so had limited their development; scientifically, culturally, militarily...’Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end’, were the wise words of the late Ambassador Spock - words P’rel lived by. There were however, large missing pieces of this puzzle, and even the puzzle itself was unclear; the reports from Starbase 50 and other sector assets had certainly filled in many gaps, but they had also opened as many. Of everyone, the intelligence officer leading the Caliban mission seemed to be at the vanguard of what we increasingly becoming a tangled web. Sitting down at one of the three chairs in the room, she held her finger on the comm button - “Computer, open a channel to USS Caliban, Lieutenant Aer Feshau commanding, encryption protocol Theta”.
Aer sat in the ready room of the USS Caliban. Their pursuit of the notorious Dr Rik had taken a turn when she had met her contact Aylon, the Ferengi with a colourful rap sheet. She had found out some interesting things from that meeting but had 'lost' her contact during it. She had no doubt he would not be around long enough for her to continue using him. Her hand was not fully healed but it still felt painful from his unusual strength. Aer sighed and she had actually made a move to get up from the chair when an encrypted communications channel popped up on the console before her. The logo still bore the Starfleet logo so she had assumed it was safe to answer. The picture of a woman appeared before her. "This is Lt. Feshau, what can I do for you?" she asked softly.
A blonde woman appeared on the screen, attractive by most standards P’rel decided; perhaps that had been used to her advantage over the course of field work, but P’rel in truth knew nothing of the young lady in front of her and could only assume. “Lieutenant...” she noticed the black pip “junior grade”, she began, emphasising ‘junior’. “I am the Intelligence Officer aboard USS Athena, I require information from you regarding an ongoing operation you are leading”. P’rel tapped the two buttons on the small desk panel which sealed the doors, hearing the magnetic clunk she continued “...I understand you are en route to retrieve a Lieutenant of Thot Tan, a scientist?”. P’rel knew more than she was letting on, but wanted to see how much her colleague would give away.
Aer did notice the emphasis on her rank but honestly it didn't bother her. Noticing straight away the hairstyle that usually denoted a Vulcan, or Romulan, as it gave a great visualisation of the ears. Straight to the point if you'll pardon the pun. Aer secured her end of the transmission to by putting in her own security code that locked down the ready room of the Caliban. "I wont insult both our intelligence but asking how you came across any possible operation that may be running." Aer responded kindly, also not truly answering the woman in turn. "There has been rumours of a Breen scientist in the area but as for the 'exact' location of this individual I say. It would be in our best interests to pick him up. I am sure that Thot Tan would be quite upset, and I do enjoy ruining a terrorists day." She let out a little smirk.
Aer was keeping her cards close to her chest at the moment. She didn't know this woman at all and giving away information to someone that pops up on your screen in the first few seconds would be very stupid indeed. Officially the Caliban was out on a shakedown cruise with a skeleton crew. However, she got the impression her Athena counterpart knew more than she was letting on too. The confidence in her question, the superiority in her use of calling out specific rank and the sparkle in her eyes that everyone held that liked to play the cat and mouse game that was gathering information.
P’rel nodded, at least her counterpart was giving her correct information, as much as she already knew, and as much to tell the Vulcan that the two women were on the same page. “Perhaps we can ruin it further” she stated, rather than asked; “Lieutenant, I have suspicions that an officer on board USS Pico is connected to the attack on Poseidon station... how this links exactly to your scientist I am uncertain...” she looked for an appropriate metaphor which would translate sufficiently well “...however I do believe we are each dealing with a different side of the same coin”. She picked up her PADD which contained the report notes; “there are too many common factors here, most of them centre around a Lieutenant Commander Brill, an environmental scientist now inexplicably assigned to the Pico, which we are now en route to rescue after she was attacked...” she left the information in the air, curious to see how her colleague would respond, and how much she already knew.
Pondering this information for a moment Aer used the PADD next to her to search for this Brill. "Well Gods be damned." she said out loud. "Lt. Commander Brill was on Poseidon station a week before the attack. His name lists as a passenger on the USS Trafalgar, and reasons for his visit are not listed. I don't believe in coincidences Lieutenant, but for us to be attacked a week later is an awful big one." she transmitted the details on Brills visit to P'rel over a secure link. "If this Brill is a link, if he is working with Thot Tan then maybe we can remove two of his team in one swoop. Possibly find out more about what he is actually up too..."
Acknowledging the secure data packet, P’rel thumbed the downlink control, “as I recently informed Captain Kane, I do believe in coincidences but I don’t trust coincidences” she replied. “Something concerns me further, this scientist with virtually zero command qualification was transferred to the Pico as XO, and then again only a short while later the Pico was attacked.” Aside the comm display, Brill’s itinerary appeared for later reading; “He’s too much of a coincidence to trust. Is there anything else you can tell me about Thot Tan? What is he up to, what are his objectives? Between us, we may be able to put some puzzle pieces together - and indeed, if Brill is working for Tan, it would be logical to simultaneously disrupt his operations.”
"There is a small fleet of Breen vessels just sitting on the border of the system here. They say they are doing training exercises, mock battles and such. They are set in an aggressive posture and obviously I don't believe that cover story." Aer spoke. "Thot Tan... well he's an interesting person from what I know. He used to serve under a Supreme Commander Bek, whom I have history with. They cut ties maybe 10 years ago but Tan still serves him in some capacity, I think the cutting of ties was for show. Tan is a very capable Commander, quite intelligent from what I have seen so far. He has his hands on more than people believe and people everywhere. This Lieutenant of his, Dr Rik, has been known to play around with genetic codes and I have picked up traces of Thalaron radiation on the station where he is, and where he will be retrieved from. I don't know what Tan is up too, I wish I did but the information stolen from our station was fleet movements, positions of officers in the area, information on expansion in the area. Very precise information. My questions about Brill though are, who put him in the XO position? This is obviously higher than him as if he has no command experience then he must have been strategically placed there for a purpose, and the attack on the ship is no coincidence at all. He is the common denominator in our attack and his own ships."
P’rel was uncertain if her surprise had been sufficiently hidden or not when she heard the report, “Thalaron radiation....” she whispered under her breath as the Lieutenant continued, this changed everything. She folded her arms as her colleague finished, agreeing with her assessment entirely, “Captain Munro himself authorised the transfer, though on reflection that’s not to say he requested it...I’m unaware of that much” she said analysing and weighing up the variables as she spoke. Elements were starting to fit into place, suspicions were becoming more grounded theories, and one element became clear as a keystone for the unfolding plot, “Lieutenant” she began, her brow furling in concentration a she spoke - “My suspicion is that when we reach the Pico, we will find that Mr. Brill has been abducted. Logically speaking, if Brill is involved somehow, then passing information to Tan seems to be an unfulfilling use for such an expert; passing sufficient information to recover him from the Pico to work on some kind of environmental aspect of a Thalaron device...that makes sense”. Her mind was racing, it had been decades since she’d had to work like this, and a glimmer of a morbid excitement came over her, “based on what you know of Thot Tan and his operation, what use do you suppose a senior environmental starfleet scientist could be to him...?”. P’rel really knew very little about Thalaron radiation, and even less about this Thot Tan, the sector intelligence files were substantial and she was still nowhere near caught up.
"Given what I know of Thalaron radiation an expert in using technology in a specific environment, or developing something to use within an environment would be very dangerous. I didn't think Tan was this reckless but he is either being very brave, or desperate and reckless." Aer said as she looked to the side and screwed her mouth up a little. "In this sector of space Poseidon station stands in the way of Breen expansion, and the newest species joining us, the Aquil. If Brill has been recruited then they could be developing something to get us out of the way. Thalaron radiation will kill anything biological in its scope. Praetor Shinzon of Romulus had a generator and ship big enough to destroy Earth and I know the potency of the radiation does not discriminate. It is possible they salvaged some of his vessel, I honestly cannot speak to that but if we can stop Brill, or Dr Rik whom I am tracking at the moment then we will serve a large blow to Tan's operation."
P’rel digested what she had heard, much of which confirmed the vaguer knowledge she already had and the suspicions which filled the large gaps in that knowledge. “Alright Lieutenant, I think the next step should be confirming the location of Brill. If he is aboard Pico, I may be wrong but he is still worth observing; however I suspect I will be correct and Brill will have been removed”. She considered a moment which way to proceed, the decades out of operational field service now hampering her, “as the ranking officer here I’m going to place Mr Brill on a level two profile alert. It’s a priority now to find him, but let’s not do anything which might let on our suspicions”. Her frustration escaped in a brief sigh, “I can only hope we are being too paranoid” the Vulcan offered, doubting the words as she spoke them. Needing to get back to work, she felt it best to wrap up; “Is there anything I can do which may be of assistance to your mission?”
"At the moment no, thank you Lieutenant." Aer responded respectfully. "I believe that I am able to complete my own, hopefully with minimal fuss. I will keep my eyes and ears open for anything on Lt. Commander Brill as I share your belief he will be gone from the Pico." Aer added. "Paranoia breeds vigilance so let us hope that we are more aware of those around us Lieutenant."
Characteristically arching a brow, she had to nod her agreement. Paranoia could perhaps be considered an emotion of sorts, and these were the times that the Vulcan benefited from her V’Tosh beliefs; “Very well, if you come across Brill let me know, I shall do the same if I find anything of material assistance to your investigation. Thank you for your time Lieutenant, Athena out”. Closing the channel, she placed her steepled fingers on her chin, considering which way to proceed; expanding her knowledge of Thalaron research seemed to be the logical progression.
Aer closed the channel on her end and unlocked the room. The mission at hand had just became a little more complicated, a little more exciting and a lot more widespread.
A Cross Sim Post by
Lieutenant P’rel
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Athena
Lieutenant JG Aer Feshau
Chief Intelligence Officer
Poseidon Station
