Ominous Signs
Posted on Tue Jun 19th, 2018 @ 7:07pm by Commodore Tyler Malbrooke
Edited on on Tue Jun 19th, 2018 @ 8:38pm
1,060 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
Episode 3 - Weary Travellers
Location: Deck 1 - Ready Room
Timeline: MD003 0900 Hrs
Thal exited the turbolift onto the bridge and swung down the stairs to the right and hit the door chime to the captain's ready room. The PADD in his hand had some new, disturbing information that might prove useful or dangerous... or both? Starfleet had obtained reports out of the Cardassian system that odd scientific experiments were being conducted that could have lasting consequences.
Tyler had taken to working in the Ready Room almost exclusively while the crew was on leave. In truth there wasn't much to do except paperwork. The tedium was killing him slowly. He couldn't wait to get back out there and was just about to take a peek at astrometric charts to plan the Pioneer's next move when the door chime went off.
"Come on in..." Tyler said as he sipped his coffee. Tyler glanced up and saw his Intelligence Chief and thought two things. The first was that Janeway was right coffee is the greatest man made suspension. The second is that the tedium was just broken. "Joran what can I do for you?" Tyler motioned toward the seat in front of the desk as he spoke.
Joran walked in and took the offered seat with a quiet nod. The coffee aroma in the air was pleasant enough, a nice change from the typical. He offered the PADD he was carrying to Tyler and pointed at it. "Sir, I have learned of some disturbing news from the Cardassia system. Initial sensor reports suggest... quantum fluctuations occurring."
Tyler's eyebrows raised at the mention of quantum fluctuations. "Quantum flux I swore that I would never get involved in anything having to do with time while I was Captain. I guess it is part of the initiation." He sighed, "Alright, where is it and what exactly are we dealing with?" Tyler sensed that this conversation might take a little while so he added. "Would you like some coffee?"
"That would be great, sir. Thank you." He rose and went over to the replicator, ordering a hazelnut coffee with cream and sugar before sitting back down. "The emanations appear to originate close to Cardassia Four, though Starfleet is having a hard time pinpointing the exact location. From what we can tell, certain special anomalies have aged slightly slower or slightly faster than normal." He sipped his coffee and continued, "They don't have anything more concrete than a few scientific readings at this point, sir."
"Have you contacted your counterpart on Cardassia Prime? I am wondering if they are in a mood to share. However, the Detapa Council is under no obligations to tell us about any experiments that they are performing. Are these emanations dangerous in any way? To us? To Cardassia?" Tyler sipped his coffee as he began to skim the report that Joran handed him. On the one hand Tyler thought that there was no such thing as being too careful, on the other he thought that perhaps his intelligence chief was jumping the gun.
Joran nodded calmly. "The Starfleet Intelligence chief for the Cardassia sector hasn't been able to be reached due to a rogue comet passing near the system which has disrupted subspace communications. I'm expecting to reestablish a link within a few days." He took another sip of his coffee. "I realize that this sounds... more troubling than it actually appears, sir. It's my job to point out potential threats even when they appear minor. If we ignore something now, it could have potential consequences later." He paused a beat before continuing, "I'm not saying that this will spell disaster for the entire Federation. Just saw something worthy of your attention."
"Quite so... Keep trying to get a hold of your counterpart, and keep an eye on things. What is troubling is if Cardassia is toying with time. The question is why? The Temporal Prime Directive applies here. See if you can find anything out about what the experiment is, it's goals etc..." Tyler paused for a second as he realized his background had always been in ship operations, it was time to rely on his crew's set of skills. "Joran level with me, in your experience what does this mean? Is Cardassia trying to figure out a way to manipulate the timeline?"
After another sip of hazelnut coffee, Joran looked Tyler square in the eye with a faint shrug. "Honestly, I could give you the hypotheticals. The truth is they could be attempting to create time travel. Then again, it could be a rogue scientist bent on universal domination, or simply honest experiments that are bordering on dangerous. There's simply no way to tell for sure at this point, sir." He set his mug down in his lap. "Even if this is the actions of a group of scientists or an individual, I have no doubt that Cardassia is aware of it. What their full involvement might be is anybody's guess, of course."
"Try to find out if the Detapa Council is aware of what is going on. I do not want them knowing that we are looking into this. Use whatever resources you need. We need to find out if this is as innocent as you say, or if Cardassia is trying to pull a fast one." Tyler sipped his coffee as he pondered the implications of what could happen. "No reports of findings are to be sent anywhere until I look at them first." He issued that final order almost as an afterthought. If this was a Cardassian covert operation then Tyler was not sure who would know about it and for now he wanted it confined to the Pioneer.
Joran nodded firmly at the orders given to him. "Absolutely, captain. I'll let my people know of the situation and we will get to work immediately to ascertain exactly what the Cardassian government knows or doesn't know." He grabbed his coffee and rose from his chair, feeling like the meeting was coming to an end. "I'll report as soon as we discover anything, sir."
"Thanks, Joran and good work." Tyler said as the man rose.
A Joint Post By
Captain Tyler Malbrooke
Commanding Officer, USS Pioneer
Warrant Officer Joran Thal
Chief Intelligence Officer, USS Pioneer
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