[USS Katana] Time is of the essence
Posted on Mon Sep 27th, 2021 @ 3:42am by Lieutenant Junior Grade T'Penga
Edited on on Tue Sep 28th, 2021 @ 8:16am
2,189 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
The Ties That Bind - Empok Nor Episode 2
Location: Conference Room
Timeline: MD005 1900 hrs
"I am sorry to call you all together." Elloma said, knowing that everyone in the room was probably asking themselves. Why did Elloma call them in for a meeting. She had a lead, and she needed to follow up on it.
Nassie was wondering that as well. She was less than thrilled that Jack was in the meeting. But surprisingly okay with Talas being here. The good doctor, gave her some information that she was still processing in regards to him.
Amber was still new to the station, she had barely acclimated to the station. She had missed the attack on the station. But only by a few days. She was enroute, when the attack to retake the station occurred. Part of her wished she would have partake in it. But then again, another part of her was glad that she did not. She eagerly awaited the news the assistant chief of security had to say.
The scars on T'Penga's legs remained hidden under her uniform but that did not make the pain any less present. For the foreseeable future this pain would serve as a constant reminder of all she had been through the past few months with the occupation of the station and then repatriation to the Federation. The Vulcan woman had been one of the few unlucky ones that did not get out and remained hidden on the station acting from within, sabotaging where she could.
The sound of Elloma Essu speaking brought T'Penga's thoughts back to the present. "It is quite intriguing..." She said with a cock of her eyebrow.
Jack had come into the meeting with Talas. The two of them had become friends of sorts. Talas had spoken to him about leaving the Essu sisters alone and he had agreed. He was swearing off women in general.
Talas listened as Elloma spoke. He wondered what was up but knew it had to be important.
"I have not mentioned the mission yet, Lieutenant T'Penga." Elloma said, in a cold tone. She had a feeling that T'Penga was given an advance copy of her mission. "However, yes it is intriguing." Elloma said in response to T'Penga's response.
The eyebrow cocked again. "Forgive me Lieutenant and allow me to elaborate. Your invitation here as unexpected as it is, in and of itself is intriguing." T'Penga replied coldly the emotions of the beings around her was palpable and something that the Vulcan would have to work to repair.
Talas raised an eyebrow as he watched the two of them squabble. He looked over at Jack who shrugged his shoulders as well. Talas wondered when they would be filled in.
Amber could see the tension between T'Penga and Elloma. She wondered if there was some history between them? Right now it's not really the moment to ask, and she knew that instead she needed to wait to see what happen.
Jack wasn’t saying a word. He had gotten himself in enough trouble lately. He hadn’t understood where Elloma and her sister were coming from until Talas had set him straight.
"I'll grant you that. Our mission while vital, is also a sensitive mission." Elloma started to say, as she looked around the room. She started to access the data pad, that had Commander Quiad's information on it. She waited to see the facial reactions of everyone.
Amber instantly noticed it was the man on her security terminals. He was listed as missing in action. She wondered, why they were discussing him in a big group setting. She instantly wondered, what he did.
Talas thought he had seen him before but wasn’t positive, it could have been someone who looked like him so he didn’t speak up. He looked over to Jack.
Jack shook his head briefly and turned his attention back to Elloma. She would fill them in sooner or later.
T'Penga cocked an eyebrow higher. She knew who this was Lieutenant Commander Calvin Quaid who up until the battle had the post of Chief Strategic Operations Officer. She wondered why his face was on the screen right now. The summons here just got curioser and curiouser. She held her comments to wait for Elloma to elaborate.
"Most of you know or at least heard of this man. Lieutenant Commander Calvin Quaid." Elloma started to say, as she took a small breath and then went on. "Our mission is to bring him in alive, and question him back on Empok Nor." Elloma started to say, she wanted to see the facial reaction to see if she should go into more detail, or move forward with the briefing.
"May I ask what the questioning is in reference to? I know that he has not returned to the station however, most people believe that he was lost in action. What is it that he has done?" T'Penga was curious about everything. She knew that Hood would not have signed off on this mission unless there was a logical reason.
"This list is long, but basically its the following. Missing Movement, unathorized leave of abscene. And computer hacking, and tampering. It's all in the data pads that I handed out." Elloma said, with a calm look on her face.
Rather than respond T'Penga took the time to review the information on the PADD. Something she chided herself internally for not doing the moment it was handed to her.
"As the data suggests, Commander Quaid is a person of interest in attack of Empok Nor." Elloma said, as she allowed time for that to sink in to her makeshift crew.
T'Penga looked over the data and the evidence was compelling. It painted a pretty clear picture that Quaid was guilty. However there did not seem to be a motive. Regardless of friendships T'Penga had to admit that pursuing Quaid was the logical step. "Lieutenant... Do we know his last known whereabouts?"
"Sensor logs indicated, he was last scene in the Septimus Sector on Septimus III." Elloma simply said, allowing the location to sink in, with her crew.
"Septimus III was the headquarters of the Cardassian Eleventh Order. The Eleventh Order was wiped out by Klingon forces in 2375. I wonder what would cause Quaid to go there? Facinating..." T'Penga said with a cocked eyebrow.
“I will look for documents on Quaid and see if I can get a psychological profile.” Jack spoke up. “There may be something there that indicates his current location.”
“It could just be he is hiding from someone.” Talas interjected. “If he was part of the reason we were attacked he has made quite a few enemies.”
T'Penga looked pensive as she thought hard on the situation. After a bit of silence she spoke up and turned toward Elloma. "Ma'am if he was hiding he would not go to Septimus. He would stick out. Septimus is held as a place of honor for the Cardassian people. A place where they fought bravely, there is always an honor guard there as well as visitors paying their respects. If he went there he went there with authorization from someone within Cardassia."
"I have the same suspicion Lieutenant." Elloma said, as she looked over to T'Penga. Then continued on. "I believe he is working with rogue agents, possibly former connections to the obsidian order." Elloma suggested to her. She was curious if T'Penga agreed.
"That is logical... A rogue Cardassian agent would get him to Septimus. Especially if they had connections to the Order. I would have to concur with your theory. The one question would be why?" T'Penga replied as she bent her mind to the task of trying to figure out why Quaid would do all of this.
"That is the big question, intel believes that the agent has resources available to him." Elloma said, as she started to read through the intelligence report she had on the data pad in her hand.
T'Penga nodded in agreement. A traitor would explain how the enemy forces got through the defenses so quickly. The only question she had at the moment was why. The Vulcan did not understand why anyone would want to betray Starfleet. She knew that the answer to the question would have to wait until they found Quaid.
"Were going out to verify the intelligence report, that we are receiving. We are pulling some strings from Counsilor Garak of Cardassia, to visit the remote colony." Elloma suggested, hoping that Captain Hood, got the final go ahead order, so they could leave soon.
"Will the Cardassian authorities be assisting us in locating and apprehending Mr Quaid?" T'Penga asked. She was curious to see if the Cardassians would want to help in a uniquely internal Starfleet matter.
"No, which has me worried. They stated, that their resources are spread thin to assist." Elloma said, wondering if this was a trap. But it was a solid lead that needed to be addressed.
Jack thought that was a good question and waited to hear the answer. "There wasn't a lot of trust there, could this be a trick?"
"Sounds like it to me." Nassie said, as she found it hard to believe that she was agreeing with anything that Jack had to say.
"If I am right, it isn't like we have a choice." Jack continued. "We just need to go in with caution." He hoped he wasn't overstepping.
Up to this point, Amber had remained silent. She was still new, and did not really have a lot to say. She knew though, if she did not say anything. Someone would mention it. "I think we should proceed with caution." Amber said.
Jack looked over to Ensign Essu to hear what she had to say next. He didn’t want to rock the boat on this mission. He had already messed up enough.
They were a young crew however, T'Penga saw the logic in sending them after Quaid. It seemed to her that the had a good starting point, now the question was could they execute. That remained to be seen. The one thing she knew for sure was that Quaid was the key to everything. She looked toward Essu as she awaited the order to be dismissed and the beginning of the end.
"Dismissed Everyone, T'Penga please wait up." Elloma asked her, as the others started to leave the room. Once the others had left, Elloma looked to T'Penga.
Elloma was still trying to stomach the idea, as she started to speak. "I wish I could lead the mission personally, I know my place on the bridge while in command. I need to know if you are up for the task. I have been hunting Commander Quaid for a long time." Elloma admitted to her. She felt that she needed to be honest to her first officer.
When the order came for dismissal T'Penga stood and would have made for the door if Elloma had not asked for her to remain. "Logic and the evidence is leading us down this path. There is an old Earth phrase that states all roads lead to Rome. In this case all roads lead to Quaid. Whether he is a traitor or not still remains to be seen. However, he needs to account for what has happened and I will see it done." T'Penga stood with her hands behind her back as she spoke. This was something that she felt very strongly about.
"This could be a big career boost for both of us, if we can pull this off." Elloma suggested to T'Penga. "I have faith in your abilities to lead this mission." Elloma told her. She hoped she did not come across as over patronizing to her.
T'Penga nodded "With you commanding I believe we cannot fail. You have the zeal that makes failure impossible. My only suggestion is to keep an open mind as to why Quaid acted the way he did. He may have done this under duress." She did not have the same drive for advancement as Elloma but T'Penga understood the need to succeed.
"That will be up to the courts to decide, we will attempt to bring him in alive, and bring him back to Captain Hood. I hope we can help him. Starfleet has a lot of questions." Elloma said to T'Penga. Her tone was calm and collected. She wanted her to know, this was not personal to her. This was work, and he was the assignment.
T'Penga nodded in agreement with Elloma. "That being the case lets go get them answers."
A joint post by;
Lieutenant Elloma Essu
CO/Chief Strategic Operations Officer, Empok Nor
Lieutenant Junior Grade T'Penga
XO/Mission Specialist, Empok Nor
Ensign Nassie Essu
Operations Officer, Empok Nor
Ensign Talas Ruhrie
Communications Specialist, Empok Nor
Ensign Amber Cartwright
Control Flight Officer, Empok Nor
RSS Feed