Ongoing Business - Security Edition
Posted on 31 Mar 2024 @ 9:43am by Captain Corvus DeHavilland & Commander Thaddeus Zayne & Lieutenant Tobias Hirsh & Lieutenant Sibyl Danzer & Chief Petty Officer Ozanna Isuri
Mission:
M4 - Falling Out
Location: Conference Room
Timeline: MD24 - 1000HRS
2326 words - 4.7 OF Standard Post Measure
”The list of requests is already over the top, Captain,” Commander Zayne offered as they walked smartly down the corridor to the conference room one level below the CIC main deck. “At the rate we’re going, I’m going to have to designate a liaison for the conference specifically. If not, I’ll never get anything done,” he added. Since they’d agreed to hold the engineers conference on Obsidian Command he’d been inundated with requests for everything from special order supplies to needing to have certain quarters retrofitted. Apparently a keynote speaker was a Pakwa-thanth that adored a good bath. Somehow that meant that they had to accommodate. God forbid he go without for the length of the conference.
“If you need to pull a Yeoman, Thad. Do it. I don’t want the operational efficiency of this station suffering for a conference,” DeHavilland countered with an almost dismissive wave of the hand.
“Thank you, Captain,” he nodded.
“Anything I need to be worried about in this meeting?” she asked, trying to change the subject to the matter at hand.
Thad gave a shake of his head, “Should be the usual ma’am. I’m not aware of anything new,” he explained. Things on that front had been going quite well lately, at least on the surface. He knew that the staff were working hard to keep the peace and keep things in order, that didn’t always come easily but when the issues didn’t come up to his level that meant that they were doing their jobs well.
“Good. I’ve had enough surprises for a while yet,” Corvus harrumphed, remembering her peanut oil incident all too clearly as they rounded the curve in the corridor, making a b-line for the conference room door and stepping through to find the staff already assembled. Corvus smirked at that, hoping that was a good omen for this being a quick and underwhelming meeting. “Morning, all,” she said, heading to her spot at the head of the conference room table.
It was a sizable conference table, but only half filled with representatives from security and tactical departments, new faces and old.
“Alright. Let’s get to it,” she smiled tightly. “Who’s on first?”
A dark-haired betazoid piped up first with a slight raise of her hand. While she’d served on the station since the reopening, she’d never been part of the staff meetings and felt she should make an introduction. “I’m Chief Petty Officer Ozanna Isuri, Ma’am, I’m representing Station Security at the moment. Commander Sikan put me on the attendance list. He’s taken the Wasp on an investigation following some leads we uncovered in the Ort cloud. He had only intended it to be a brief look, but has informed me that he needs to extend his mission, possibly for a couple of weeks. Chief Deputy Marshal Steiner would be filling in, except that he’s self-assigned to investigating some missing persons case that came up during the events on Korix.” The NCO shifted in her seat, not accustomed to reporting directly to the senior staff and acutely aware that maybe she didn’t belong in this setting. “Station security is well manned, but we could use more senior officers, with everything going on.”
Lieutenant Sibyl Danzer, the woman to Isuri’s left, looked up at the Command team. They’d been accustomed to seeing her at the weekly meetings, representing the Tactical department since she’d been named Assistant Chief. “I can take Security rotations for now,” she offered, willing to make up some of the difference in the sister department.
Thad nodded, making the note on the change.
“I can assist as well,” a blonde-haired Commander closer to the head of the table smiled tightly. She was a slight woman in size and stature but that never got in the way of her job as Chief of Security. “Commander Rochambeau, I’ve been helping out here and there,” she said as much to Chief Isuri as to the Captain whom she’d only briefly met.
“Thank you, Commander,” Corvus nodded. “Go on, Chief.”
“Right, so highlights of this week’s security report…” CPO Isuri continued. “Uh, the outgoing Chief of Security tried to steal a runabout. That was…” She shook her head, having read through all of the various statements made. “We had him in the brig, but seeing as his transfer orders put him in the Sol system, he was handed over to the USS Portland’s security department. I’ve entered all the relevant evidence and statements we collected into the record to be referenced under his new assignment’s purview of his case.”
Thad glanced at Corvus with an ice cold expression. He hadn’t really ever disliked the man but he wasn’t exactly singing his praises. But that wasn’t what had his attention on the Captain. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something was different when they’d come back. His departure was quite sudden and quite shocking to say the least considering how it all went down.
“There was an altercation on the promenade, outside of Hula Pete’s. We had three persons overnight for disorderly conduct.”
“Civilian or Starfleet?” Thad asked, turning his attention to his data PaDD. He hadn’t recalled reading that in the reports, but then there was lot of data.
“Two of the three are active service members.”
“Have a word with them, Commander. Let’s not make it a habit,” Corvus nodded to her First Officer. The last thing she needed on top of everything else was for the staff to think that there wouldn't be consequences for conduct unbecoming, even in their off hours. “Go on,” she smiled again to the Chief.
“Pog’s Emporium reported multiple thefts, but we haven’t been able to confirm the inventory logs or to identify any theft on security sensors. My sense is the proprietor wants a case number to engage in insurance fraud. But we’re continuing to review the recordings.”
“Noted,” Commander Zayne replied, intending to have a word with the proprietor himself.
“Sounds like there’s never a dull moment,” Corvus tried to offer light-heartedly.
“No Ma’am” Isuri said, trying to offer a simple smile to cover her own frustration with going from garrison patrol to mall cop. It was a different kind of exciting, she supposed.
“What else do we have?”
“Can I be copied in on the upcoming Engineering Conference?” Lieutenant Danzer asked. Seeing as she had volunteered to aid with Station security, it became more of Sibyl’s concern. Whereas before she’d been more interested in background checks and flight logs for incoming attendees, now her attention would have to include their stay on the station itself. “Are there any issues arising in the preparations which I should take note of?”
Corvus chuckled, gesturing to her but looking at Zayne, “Better act now before she realizes what she just volunteered for.”
Thad smirked, turning his gaze over to the Lieutenant. “We have a couple thousand Engineer’s coming from every corner of the quadrant, both Starfleet and civilian. We have issues coming out of the woodwork. Far more than we’re going to be able to outline here. Let’s have a word after this meeting and discuss,” he suggested.
Sibyl nodded. “Yes, Sir.”
“At least there is less to accommodate with the Diplomatic conference at this time.” Tobias stated, intending it to be a side comment. But he always did tend to underestimate the attention he drew with his deep rumble of a voice and everyone was looking now. He felt the need to continue. “After presentations and testimony, Admiral Harshman and Ambassador Stillwell have called an extended recess. The deliberations have continued in private, so I have no update to offer in that respect. But I have taken the opportunity to review the data and debriefings of my own accord. In trying to finalize my own strategic recommendations to Admiral Sepandiyar, I have a number of questions concerning the events of your mission, Captain.”
“Ok?” Captain DeHavilland replied, “Such as?”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand the circumstances as to why Lieutenant Commander Quinn was unable to continue his duties on your return voyage. He had an injured hand, but after treatment, your Medical team did not find the condition severe.”
“I don’t understand why that’s particularly relevant?” Corvus replied, trying her best not to be overly reactive to the question.
“I only inquire because an Ensign Tilmer, now Junior Lieutenant, was assigned in his place, and there were several incongruous choices in his management of the department.”
“I’m not aware of there being any issues,” she replied with a confused expression. “What kind of choices?”
“Such as a computer systems update.These are usually performed in dock, or at least during long downtimes on survey missions.”
“As capable as I’m sure Ensign Tilmer is, he is still an Ensign. Sounds like a rookie mistake, doesn’t it? Overzealous to do a good job while the Chief was away tending his hand?”
“And then there is the matter of the aft hull damage.” Tobias continued. “The Ensign recommended losing the panels before returning to the station.”
“I believe the expectation was that it would advance repair time. I’m afraid Engineering isn’t my strongest suit,” she chuckled. “But I would be interested in whatever you have on Ensign Tilmer.”
“Actually, he is the rank of a Lieutenant Junior Grade now. You had approved the promotion, as recommended by Commander Zahn. Certainly something about his performance on the mission seemed to have merited it. And yet the record of his actions and behavior is quite mixed.”
“If you feel his action weren’t in keeping with Engineering protocols. It’s something we should discuss with the Chief now,” she threw in, hoping that answer was good enough to keep them off them scent.
“Of course, Captain.” It seemed that this was not the opportune time to delve into the Engineering personnel. He continued on to another item of curiosity. “There is another issue maybe you can shed light on for me? I followed up on the dockyard repair reports, and the scans showed subspace markers that I found very familiar. I had seen them while evaluating the Pyrryx wreckage you brought back to the station. The signature on the aft compartments matched the signature of subspace warheads carried by the other Pyrryx vessel’s remains. But I could find no record of any subspace destabilization that may have caused this level exposure.”
Captain DeHavilland shook her head, “The Pyrryx vessels did attempt to attack us. Considering how little we know of their weaponry, it’s possible some of their particle weaponry shares such a signature?” she postulated. “Would it be far of a stretch to assume their weapons are built on similar tech?” she asked in response.
Commander Zayne listened to the Captain answer, then turned his gaze to the Lieutenant, but as he looked at him he gave a slight shake of his head as if to suggest that this wasn’t the time to press, hoping he’d notice. Thad couldn’t say for certain that Captain DeHavilland wasn’t being truthful, but he’d been in the game long enough to read the subtle cues that something wasn’t quite right.
Tobias blinked slowly, catching the motion of the Executive Officer’s head shake. It seemed here too, that the command team wished him not to pursue the question. “Ah, yes. That very thing had occurred to me, of course.” Tobias sat back, folding his hands on the table. He’d had several additional questions but there was a rising doubt in his gut that he would discover any answers to them at this meeting. “As things stand, the progress in Bay Alpha-Nine is complete. All portions of the wreckage have been scanned and cataloged. Key items are prepared for storage and the rest for reclamation. All that is required to close the evaluation process is your approval, Captain.”
“Send me your final report and you’ll have it,” Corvus nodded, resisting the urge to approve it out of hand.
Tobias sighed, the sound louder than he had intended. She seemed… glad to close the file, while so much was still left unanswered. “Yes, Captain. I will flag the report in the queue.”
“Anything else of note we need to discuss? Now’s the time.” Corvus pressed on, looking as much to her own First Officer as the table at large. They were here, they had her attention and she didn't want it to appear as if she was somehow trying to cut this short. She’d always hated those meetings as a junior officer, when the Captain made her feel as if their trivial ‘jobs’ were getting in the way of his day.
Chief Isuri shook her head, content that she was going to get more Officers assigned to the department, and looking between Lt Danzer and Commander Rochambeau, making note of the faces she would now get to pass the buck on upwards to. “No, I’m good, ma’am,” she said.
Tobias was silent, knowing it would be taken as affirmation, though he couldn’t quite accede out loud.
“Ok,” Captain DeHavilland smiled. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll let you all get back to what you do best. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask. We’re the Fleet’s flag station, so we have to set the example. That means my door’s open whenever you need it,” she declared with as much of a smile as she could muster. She let that hang for a moment and then stood up, “Dismissed.”
