Help Is On The Way

Posted on Mon Feb 14th, 2022 @ 12:02am by Commodore Jacob Kane & Lieutenant Didrea Zade

Mission: With Gleaming Eyes
Location: USS Athena
Timeline: MD-04 0730hrs
887 words - 1.8 OF Standard Post Measure

The previous evening's events still lingering in the mind, Kane had managed to avoid a 'walk of shame' by ordering a direct transport to his ready room. It was slightly out of protocol, but the benefits of Captaincy had helped him this time.

In his hand he eyed an aging data storage device; not Cardassian or even Dominion in make, but rather Tzenkethi. That in itself was a curiosity, but a conundrum for another time. He would have to make sure the data got to P'rel and Tolbar shortly, however he was alerted to an inbound communication on subspace from a nearby Federation starship. The readouts had her as the USS Colossal, a science vessel returning from assignment elsewhere in Cardassian space.

The first thing that struck Kane was odd was that there was another Starfleet ship out this far. Admiral White had insisted Athena was the only ship even close to the border. An Admiral of that station ought to know of other assets in the region. It lent a small amount of credence to P'rel's assessment about suspicious communications, but perhaps it was an oversight.

The second thing he noticed was the name of the ship's Commanding Officer. Jessica Munro. Munro. A quick database search pulled up her file. Young, relatively new in role. And the younger sister of Marc Munro. The late Captain of the USS Pico.

"Wheels within wheels..." Kane murmured to himself. Coincidence? Providence? Or something else? Marc had mentioned a sister, but never one that was in Starfleet.

He punched up the pre-recorded message on his personal viewer. Her face appeared, staring intently into the camera. She was indeed young, but there was a steel in those grey eyes. Not emotional, but rather determination.

"Captain Kane, this is Captain Munro of the USS Colossal." She took a breath. "We've been on long-term attachment to a Tholian research expedition on the far side of Cardassian territory. Word reached us of the plague on Ithaca, and while I'm not sure why we weren't summoned, there's no reason why we can't offer our assistance." She looked off-screen a moment, then continued. "You're not exactly flying in with a full humanitarian aid package, and we might have a few to spare. Our course back to Starbase 32 will take us near your location; I'll be transferring you some additional supplies and personnel to help you coordinate your efforts. Our shuttle should rendezvous with you shortly." A hint of emotion did start to cross her face at that point. "Marc...I heard that you tried to help him. Let me use this moment to start to say thank you. Good hunting. Munro out."

Kane watched the screen go dark, his thoughts clouded with questions as well as a silent moment of reassurance that her presence hadn't been organised as some sort of trap or game. The last part of her message told him that much.

"Bridge? We should have contact with a shuttle from the USS Colossal. Patch me through."

There was a moment as the Ops duty officer complied, the screen flickering from Captain Munro's to another, junior officer, apparently manning the controls of a smaller craft.

"This is Captain Kane of the Athena. I hear your Captain sent us some assistance?" he inquired.

Zade looked up from the console to identify the voice, making eye contact with this Captain Kane. Following the interruption to her and Karav's training, she was told that a science team was preparing to depart with supplies and Zade had to be prepared to leave with them as a security escort to protect the supplies. Despite the rush to get ready, she made sure her uniform was nice and that she didn't have some random curl in her half-up style out of place. First impressions, after all, were important. "Lieutenant Zade in the shuttle Nightingale. Aye sir, I'm escorting some equipment and a team of scientists from the Colossal, and we expect to rendezvous in..." she checked the dash, "... 20 minutes."

"Very good. We've unexpectedly limited time here in the Ithaca system; report directly to me when you arrive, but have the supplies dispatched to Lt Commander Ki on the surface as soon as possible," Kane ordered.

"Copy that," the Trill replied. She paused, looking off camera for a moment, then asked, "Captain, do we need to make a stop in the shuttlebay to pick up additional supplies or personnel?" If not, there was no reason to go to the shuttlebay when she and any extra supplies can just be transported.

"I leave that to your perogative, Lieutenant," Kane replied, probably a little too brusquely.

Zade nodded to the reply. "Understood. Nightingale out."

Once the connection ended, Zade finally let herself yawn. The shuttle departed for Ithaca at 2100 hours last night, and she felt like the only one not quite prepared for the all-nighter. She did manage to get enough sleep to not have it affect her, but a couple more hours would have been ideal. "Definitely getting coffee the first chance I get..." she mumbled to herself. Lightly patting her cheeks to make sure she was fully awake, she turned to face the team of blue shirts. "Alright, here's the plan..."