And after a massively long absence, I thought I'd better start publishing all the writing I've been doing! I added in an extra section at the start of Chapter Four so you can go back and read that; or since it's been so long re-reading the whole thing is probably a better option.
Comments are as always welcome and sought after.
Chapter Five
“Captain, incoming transmission from Starbase 214,” Lieutenant Savok reported from the communications station. “Vice Admiral Da-Rhotereii for you.”
“I’ll take it in my ready room, Lieutenant,” Carin responded, boosting herself out of her command chair and propelling herself towards the front of the bridge.
“Aye Captain,” the Vulcan acknowledged to the departing form.
Settling quickly behind her desk, Carin brought up her desktop comm. screen and accepted the transmission. “Oshima here, Admiral,” she announced firmly.
“Ah, Captain. We received your final shakedown report and are quite pleased that you have no need for additional yard work,” the Efrosian began.
“As such, you can now consider yourself on full active duty.” “Thank you, Admiral. The shipwrights at Aldebaran know their job. I am very impressed at the lack of problems we have encountered in our shakedown,” Carin responded, giving credit where it was due.
“I’m sure Quality Control at the New Liverpool shipyards will be very happy to hear that. Now, we have your first assignment, Captain.” Da-Rhotereii announced, changing gears abruptly.
“As I indicated to you at the commissioning ceremony, the mission window is about to open. You are to proceed to the Argaya system in unclaimed space between the Federation and the Cardassian Union, to arrive on or after stardate 45350. Once there, you are to recover a long-range warp probe from the atmosphere of the gas giant Argaya B-VI. The full details of the mission and its expected profile are being transmitted to you now,” the Efrosian continued,
“but we are not expecting trouble from the Cardassians on this one.” “What information do we have on the disposition of Cardassian forces in the area, Sir?” she asked immediately. “We may not be expecting trouble, but that’s usually when it shows up.”
“Quite so, Captain,” Da-Rhotereii commented seriously.
“Included in the briefing materials is Starfleet Intelligence’s latest data and estimates.” “Thank you, Admiral. A question, if I may?” Getting a nod, she continued. “How freely is this information to be distributed?”
Da-Rhotereii looked at her with slight annoyance.
“That too is covered in the materials, Captain, but you can brief your senior officers completely if you so wish. Now, if there is nothing else?” Feeling slightly chastised, Carin shook her head. “No, Admiral that was all. We will be under way momentarily,” she told him in a professional tone.
“Very good. Starfleet, out.” The screen blinked off and Carin exhaled loudly.
Damnit, you old goat, I’m new at this! This is my first captain’s level mission briefing and I don’t know what’s in them beyond what my
captain showed me!
She felt annoyed with herself for apparently irritating her new CO but was also annoyed at him for making her feel like she’d asked a stupid or redundant question.
Oh well. I’d rather ask when I have the chance than not and finding out later I needed to, she thought philosophically, letting her annoyance drain away. Tapping her com badge, she stated, “Captain to XO.”
“Terev here. Go ahead, Sir,” came the terse response.
“Set course for the Argaya system, warp five,” she ordered.
“Aye Captain.” “Thank you, Commander,” she acknowledged and terminated the call.
Okay, let’s see what he’s got us doing on our first time out. Bringing up the briefing materials on her desk terminal, she leaned forward and rested her chin on her steepled fingers as she read.
*****
“Okay people, here it is,” Carin announced to her assembled senior staff a couple of hours later. “We have been tasked by Starfleet Command to retrieve a covert surveillance probe from an unclaimed system between Cardassian and Federation space.” Carin noted eyebrows going up, antennae twitching, and ears swivelling fully forward at her words. “The specifics are on your desk screens, so take a few moments to read up and we’ll proceed.”
“So we are actively engaged in espionage against the Cardassians,” Traek of Vulcanis stated a bare minute later, managing to convey an aura of disapproval without stooping to expression or inflection.
Carin caught the same disapproval coming from her chief medical officer and – surprising her – from her tactical officer as well. “That is correct, Commander,” she told her chief engineer. “After Captain Maxwell forced the issue last year, Starfleet Intelligence deemed it prudent to detail several stealthed surveillance probes to look into the border star systems to see what there was to find.”
“Spying on people often leads to the spies being caught and even greater distrust being generated between the involved parties,” Doctor Lalani stated frostily, her elegant brow furrowed with distaste and her normally soft voice sharp with disapproval.
Carin caught Hranok’s almost absent-minded nod of agreement and looks of varying degrees of approval and disbelief on the faces of the others at her stance.
“They are without question spying on us, and we know we haven’t any hostile intentions,” Thelinar retorted silkily. “It would be the utmost in foolish naivety to believe we can trust in the peaceful intentions of the Cardassians, and since they aren’t very forthcoming with information and the sharing of knowledge for the betterment of all, we have to make sure we don’t get caught out by them. Again. Like we did the last time.”
Nimira Lalani flushed at the Andorian’s tone and fired back, her English accent becoming more pronounced with her rising ire. “And it is the endless political and military-mindset games that engender, prolong, and escalate these situations to the point of a shooting match!”
Carin was going to let this go on, hoping to gain insight into the way her crew thought and worked together, but it was about to turn acrimonious.
Imagine all the people, she thought ironically, quoting lyrics from an ancient song she’d heard playing in her grandfather’s pub back home. Aloud, she restored order.
“We’re not here to debate the policies and decisions of those above us,” she interjected clearly but mildly, and the opponents took the hint and settled down. Carin had indeed gotten a feel for some of the personalities here, but Intelligence missions were something of a sore spot for the more idealistic and pacifistic members of the Fleet so perhaps this wasn’t a fair reading.
“As I said, we are on a recovery mission. We will be headed for the Argaya system, where the probe was programmed to hide itself in the upper atmosphere of the gas giant Argaya B-VI. There are expected to be teraquads of data in the device after it spending nearly a year in Cardassian space, so we are to handle it carefully.
“The expected mission profile is merely to arrive at Argaya B-VI, transmit the recovery signal to locate the probe, retrieve it, and take it back to Starbase 214. All in all, a simple, straight-forward task.
“Who wants to know what’s going to go wrong?” she asked wryly.
Several smiles evidenced themselves around the table, with the expected exceptions of Traek and the still annoyed Doctor Lalani. Carin noted that Thelinar seemed perfectly at ease after their little tiff, and mentally grinned.
“On screen now is the location of the Argaya system and its position relative to the three spheres of influence. As you can see we will be in what is indisputably not Cardassian space, so we are hoping there will be no Cardassian presence at all on this mission. However, we will still be close enough to both Cardassian and Talarian space that a random encounter is not out of the question.”
“Are the Talarians even a threat at all?” Lieutenant K’Rett asked pointedly.
Hranok handled the conn officer’s almost rhetorical question, having familiarised himself with all this region’s belligerent races. “Individually, the Talarian cruisers are no threat to a full-sized Federation starship as long as we have either shields or warp drive. Their scouts don’t even rate. Generalising, it would take at least four cruisers together to offer any real danger to the
Akyazi over a sustained battle, or eight to offer an imminent threat of destruction.”
“Thank you, Hranok,” Carin acknowledged her tactical officer as he went back to sipping his
katheka. She could smell the aromatic beverage from half way up the conference table and found it rather enticing to her above-Human-norm sense of smell.
I wonder if Thelinar introduced him to that? It might be a good ice-breaker to query her about Andorian coffee. As captain I may need a heftier jolt of joy juice than my own alien heritage can offer, she mused, flicking a glance at her cooling Vulcan mocha.
Vulcans didn’t believe in even naturally grown artificial stimulants such as coffee, preferring their mental disciplines to clear their mind and enhance their senses. Her old fall back was a good, strong, thick, Terran Israeli coffee, but it was so harsh sometimes that it abraded her throat. Carin decided to breach the topic to her ops officer at her next opportunity.
Pulling her mind back on track – and scolding herself for having let it wander at all during a briefing
she was giving – Carin continued. “So, as Mr. Hranok explained, the Talarians are not a threat to the physical safety if the ship. However, that will not stop them from being a nuisance if they’re of a mind to be. Relations with them have been cordial in the ten years since the ceasefire, but there have been enough little incidents and spats between our ship commanders over what they see as their territory and our encroaching on it to highlight the need for caution.”
“Why is it that we are the only peoples who are
not immediately enraged over territorial incursions by others?” Terev muttered grumpily.
Again, the reactions were varied in response to that statement. Some expressed exasperated agreement, which Carin agreed with though she kept her face neutral. Traek gave the Tellarite a blank look that she recognised as annoyance and affront at Terev’s lack of respect for the protocol of a briefing. Lieutenant Hranok and Doctor Lalani’s expressions conveyed disappointment and disapproval respectively at a mindset that thought forgiving transgressions and instead finding the reasons behind them was a bad way of doing things.
Admittedly, I also agree with Hranok and Lalani but that policy has lead other nations to think that they can push us around and get away with shooting at Starfleet
without damaging relations with the Federation, Carin sighed inwardly.
She also had a few ways she could handle this. She didn’t want to become an overbearing martinet with her crew, stamping down hard on any and all protocol breaches, but neither did she want to be so easy-going that people just shot off their mouths whenever they felt like it. She further didn’t want to foster a certain mode of thought by openly siding with certain people on certain arguments. Expressing political views was one of the surest ways to divide a group and shut down or at least inhibit free discussion. Picking her course with care, she laid down her rules.
“
Thank you for your comments, Mr. Terev. They are of course always welcome and I encourage all of you to share your thoughts. However, if you could limit them to productive ideas during a briefing I’d appreciate that,” she stated pointedly, but not sharply, with a measured look at her XO which she then swept across her assembled officers.
“Ah, of course, Captain,” he responded somewhat sheepishly. “My apologies for the disruption.”
“No harm done, Commander,” she accepted the apology with a friendly tone but still fixing him with her pointed look. She watched as her words and actions sank in and the slight tension that had started to gather from Traek’s opening comments relaxed as boundaries were established.
Carin was pleased to see it. It let her know her senior staff were professionals and that she’d apparently adopted an approach that they respected and could abide by.
“Of further note with regards to the Talarians: since this is a covert recovery mission, we cannot let them see us in the act of recovery. If the opposition know we’ve been watching them the intelligence gathered is far less valuable. So if we do encounter anyone before we’re able to recover the probe, we have to either send them on their way properly reassured as to our good intentions or perform some sleight-of-hand and recover it when they’re not watching. We don’t want them telling the Cardassians.”
“That will pose a significant problem, Captain,” Thelinar stated immediately. “Many of these encounters do not end until both parties depart the vicinity. Do we have a cover story to either allow us to stay as long as necessary, or leave and return to find them still watching?”
Carin noted and was impressed by her ops officer’s keen intellect and practical outlook. “None have been suggested by Starfleet, but we are free to come up with whatever the circumstances will support,” she replied.
“Then with your permission, Captain, I’d like to take this opportunity to examine the data we have on this region and the Argaya system to compose some scenarios for our cover story,” the Andorian
zhen declared forthrightly.
“Approved,” Carin stated, meaning it on multiple levels.
Initiative too. Thelinar is going to be quite an asset, it seems. I’ll just need to see if her proposals are actually workable to confirm she has the talent to back up the sterling qualities she’s displayed so far. “This brings us to the Cardassians themselves,” Oshima stated next. “Intelligence shows they have three vessels in the area, all Galor class. Mr. Hranok?”
Looking at the accompanying information on his desk screen, Hranok recited, “The
Raklon, the
Helkar, and the
Tomar. The
Raklon is a Galor Type Two, the others are Type Ones. The Type Ones are Cardassian Wars vintage, tactically equivalent to our Excelsior class of the time period. They are still in the original configuration of the class and have not been upgraded in over twenty years.” Looking up and sweeping his gaze around the table, he expounded on this datapoint. “The Cardassians have shown a proclivity for expending resources building new ships in the latest configurations rather than upgrading their older vessels to current standards, and Starfleet Tactical has put this down to a desire to have the older ships fill out support roles in the fleet rather than expending time and resources designing entirely new classes for those purposes, much like the Klingons did last century.
“The Type Twos are tactically equivalent to our New Orleans class. Indeed, it was the introduction of that class that prompted the Cardassians to upgrade their own ships. The Type Two was the state of the Cardassian art from around stardate 35000 until just last year, with the introduction of the Type Three.
“Both these configurations are tactically superior to the Cheyenne class, though the Type One is marginally so, and we have the advantage in manoeuvrability, acceleration, and top speed compared to all Galor-class variants.”
The Bolian’s words had a sobering effect on the gathering. It reminded everyone that they were no massively solid and protected explorer-type ship and that the front line warships of other interstellar powers could hurt them badly. To Carin, it underscored the need for caution.
“This is why I hope that the Cardassians will ignore us, but it’s also why I’m expecting to bump into them. I am quite sure the Cardassians would want to intercept an opponent they can actually chase off successfully,” she told her officers seriously.
“The thing to bear in mind here is that this is an unclaimed system we are entering and they cannot legally force us to leave. That hasn’t stopped them in the past, but with the ceasefire agreement barely two years old we can but hope they will show restraint. We cannot rely on or expect that, however.”
Nimira Lalani leaned forward and clasped her hands on the table. Her vivid blue eyes wide with worry she asked, “Captain, are you expecting to take us into battle?”
“No, Doctor, I am not,” Carin reassured her CMO. “As I said, circumstances dictate that the Cardassians exercise restraint so many light-years from their own recognised boundaries. However, we have witnessed that Cardassian restraint involves not engaging in an
all-out battle, and they love to push our buttons.”
The attractive Indian woman with the gentle English accent did not appear overly reassured. “As long as you show some Human restraint, Captain, the situation – if one develops – won’t escalate into violence,” she suggested.
Quite the steel fist inside that velvet glove, Carin thought with some surprise, feeling respect and annoyance in equal measure for Lalani. “I’m fully aware of
all my responsibilities, Doctor,” she replied, trying to keep her voice even.
Nimira heard the edge in there regardless and realised she’d maybe pushed too far.
I’ve yet to see how she does things “for real”, after all, and no captain wants to be thought of as weak. Accepting Oshima at her word, she nodded and sat back in her chair.
As the briefing progressed, with more updates from Engineering and Science, Nimi pondered her new CO.
I should have had the Counsellor attend so I could confer with him afterwards. It would have been good to get a trained psychiatrist’s first hand impressions of Captain Oshima. She knew that many Starfleet officers were still uncomfortable with the presence of a counsellor aboard their ships, even after almost forty years of the practice. The very fact that Lieutenant M’Wrok hadn’t been invited to a mission briefing indicated to Nimira that Oshima was probably one of these officers.
I’ll speak with the captain about M’Wrok, she resolved, then returned her full focus to the end of the briefing.
*****
“Captain, if I might have a word with you?” Nimira spoke up as the meeting dispersed. Normally she would merely have lingered to catch the captain’s attention but Oshima had gotten up quickly, as if to lead her officers out.
Oshima merely nodded and let the rest of her crew leave. Nimira realised that her captain was unsurprised by her request.
“What can I do for you, Doctor?” she asked in a chipper tone.
“Captain, I was wanting to intervene with you on behalf of Lieutenant M’Wrok, to request his inclusion in future mission briefings. I’ve often found that having a trained counsellor present adds value to the proceedings.”
As she spoke, she noted Oshima’s eyebrows rise in surprise for a second.
Not what you expected me to say, Captain? What did you think I was going to talk about? Federation policy? Diplomatic relations? Morals and ethics? Oshima assumed a frown but not before the doctor had caught a glimpse of distaste flash across her face at the mention of the ship’s counsellor. Nimira wondered what the distaste was for, the position or the person filling it.
Or maybe even me for bring it up? “Doctor, I’ve actually found quite the opposite. I’ve only found a counsellor to be useful in these kinds of briefings if they have specific knowledge of the species or events involved, or if they are telepathic and/or have other heightened senses,” Captain Oshima countered matter-of-factly, then proceeded to spell out her position even as she saw the doctor’s mouth open to argue.
No doubt learned that from our meeting just now, Nimi thought with dry humour.
“Since our ships’ counsellors are trained in general psychology and xenopsychology for the specific purpose of the wellbeing and treatment of their own crewmates, they are not likely to be trained in the psychology and motivations of our adversaries. I find it far more useful at these briefings to have a cultural specialist for the species involved,” she stated pointedly, “but your point is well taken. At the next meeting I’ll have the closest thing we’ve got to a Cardassian expert attend for their input. Thank you for your suggestion, Doctor.”
Nimira ignored the obvious but not explicit dismissal. Oshima seemed determined to get out the door, but she wasn’t done talking to her captain yet.
“With respect Sir, that was not my point.” Braving her captain’s suddenly sharp look, Nimira pressed on. “A trained and experienced counsellor often has general observations and suggestions that are quite helpful, but more specifically often come at the task in hand from a different viewpoint, making their input doubly valuable. When everyone present is from the ‘hard sciences’, command, tactical, and engineering departments, I think the input from the social sciences department is a necessary and regularly overlooked aspect to mission planning. I would urge you to think longer about this, Ma’am.”
Nimira had started off somewhat bluntly, thus earning her CO’s glare, but as she continued she managed to relax her voice and stance to a more friendly, persuading manner to help get her point across. Ending with the “Ma’am” was a bit of pure sugar-coating, but she felt it worth the risk.
Cocking her hip to the right, Oshima put her right arm across her belly and used it to prop up her left as she held her chin between her thumb and forefinger. Apparently assuming her “thinking” pose, she stayed silent and looked at Lalani steadily, her face expressionless. Nimira began to feel a little uncomfortable with such an unrelenting blank look, but before it could manifest itself in actual fidgeting, the captain finally replied.
“Doctor, I appreciate your input and I will consider your proposal,” she stated neutrally. “Dismissed.”
Having gotten as far as her CO was apparently willing to let her go, Nimira relented – for now. “Aye, Sir. Thank you for your time, Captain,” she replied, and headed for the door.
“I always have time for all my officers, Doctor,” Oshima told her in a far friendlier tone. “I trust the same is true for you? I may want to discuss this further with you after I’ve had more time to think your proposal though.”
Nimira was puzzled by the abrupt switch in mood, but nodded as they both walked up the ramp to the bridge. “Of course, Captain. I’m always available if you need my input on something.”
“Glad to hear it. Carry on, Doctor,” the captain said as they entered the bridge, then headed for her ready room.
“Aye, Sir,” the doctor replied, then made her way to the turbolift at the back of the bridge. As she descended through the ship to her own domain, Nimira wondered at the mood change.
Was it just for show, to maintain good relations with me as one of her senior officers? Or maybe it was that she had a problem with my proposal, but not with me personally. Nimira really hoped for the latter, and the strength of that feeling surprised her.
If she’s able to separate the two we could have a real winner for a captain. I’ve known too many who couldn’t do that and their interpersonal relations suffered for it. Shrugging slightly, she let the issue rest.
I guess I’ll just have to wait and see. *****
Carin had the door to her ready room slide shut and lock as she strode over to the large viewports behind her desk. The projected starfield it displayed while they are at warp was a soothing influence and it often helped calm her and organise her thoughts. She didn’t really need it this time, but it was also a very beautiful sight she never tired of.
Literally staring off into space, she went over her conversation with the doctor.
I wonder why she was pushing so hard? It could be that this is her normal way of doing things, Carin supposed.
After all, I didn’t have much contact with her during the shakedown. But she really wants a sodding counsellor there, and I can’t say as I totally accept the reasons she gave. And I really don’t
want that sodding counsellor there. She sighed.
Sodding counsellor, she repeated again, then grinned wryly at her reflection.
I know that a cultural specialist would be far better at coming at things from the “social sciences” viewpoint than the ship’s shrink, so why does she really want M’Wrok there? They analyse and support the crew’s wellbeing and mental state… does she just want them there to get a reading on the senior staff? As they do their jobs, as opposed to in a counselling session? Carin didn’t like the sound of that.
The doctor had better not be playing mind games with me, damnit. If she wants something, she should come out and ask for it. And when I refuse her, she should accept that and not try to do an end run around me by blowing smoke in my face. I’m the captain
, and she has to do what I say! Securing a Vulcan mocha (extra sweet) from her personal replicator, she settled into the chair behind her desk and let her eyes wander over the contents of “her” space.
Though she had decorated with knick-knacks and holos of her family and friends, and even considered having her pet brought aboard at some point in the future, there was a large blank wall that needed something placed there to draw the eye.
She remembered that Captain Asamov had a painting there of his ship’s namesake, the ancient British Royal Navy survey ship
Endeavour. He said it was to remind him of the purpose of the Starfleet and the traditions it followed and emulated.
Carin decided that she’d have a picture of her ship there too. A portrait, in fact. Previously, a little bit of research had let her know that her own vessel was named after an advanced pre-Reformation Vulcan kingdom that had a socially evolved constitution and relatively peaceful relations with its neighbouring states. As such, it was on of the first regions on Vulcan to whole-heartedly adopt Surak’s reforms, and continued to serve as an example to the nations around it. However, she didn’t want to have a portrait of an ancient Vulcan society despite her Vulcan heritage. Rather, her grandfather had instilled into her an appreciation for starships, both in their physical form and in their symbolism. Since she thought her own ship was rather pretty, she wanted a dynamic, breathtaking portrait of the
Akyazi where she could admire it.
Maybe I’ll wait until there is a suitable backdrop, then I’ll take a travel pod out and find a good angle or two or three for a holo, she mused, liking the idea more and more.
Okay, yeah. That’s what I’ll do. We’ll see what wonders we find that I can pose her before and until them I’ll pick a pretty but basic CGI to replicate. So decided, she brought her mind back to her briefing and the thoughts she’d had at the time. Getting back up to pace, she made her log entry.
“Captain’s Log, Stardate 45337.2. With the signing off on the final report of our shakedown cruise, Sector Command has placed us on full active duty status and with it comes our first real mission,” Carin began, excitement still noticeable in her voice despite her efforts to control it. “Starfleet has ordered us to the Argaya system close to the Cardassian border on a recovery mission. While not in Federation space, neither is it claimed by the Cardassians, allowing a no-man’s-land buffer zone between our nations. In this unclaimed, uninhabited system, the
Akyazi is to recover a covert intelligence-gathering probe that Starfleet dispatched into Cardassian space following the
Phoenix Incident last year. This long-range stealthed probe has toured the star systems behind the Cardassian border with the Federation looking for any signs of a military build-up or other preparations for war.
“While there have been several minor sabre-rattling confrontations between us during this time, there have been no incidents on either side to match the unauthorised jaunt by Captain Maxwell and a renewal of full-scale hostilities remains a remote possibility. That said, the Cardassians continue to regularly test our border patrols, exchanging witticisms or phaser beams as their own dispositions take them.”
Though it was difficult for her, she managed to say those last words evenly for the official record. Carin was well aware that it was subject to future review by senior officers, classes of cadets, and historians as the circumstances dictated. As such, she was careful in what she said and how she said it, lest it reflect badly on her or her affiliations.
On the flip side of this, however, she also knew that with thousands of log entries made every day by even just other captains alone, it was entirely probable that this log and millions like it would be stored unread until the storage medium itself failed due to old age. Which way its future went depended on how well she performed her duties. Blindingly successful, important missions would be studied just as assiduously as complete failures, but the daily routines of normal existence remained uncommented on.
She intended on making this mission one of the latter: a routine,
successful mission.
She shook off her momentary musings and continued her entry. “The latest Fleet Intelligence briefings place three Galor-class Cardassian vessels in the area. With even the oldest of these vessels outgunning us I hope to avoid the Cardassians completely but even if that proves impossible I will not put my ship into harm’s way unless the probe is in imminent danger of discovery or destruction.
“We are currently
en route at a comfortable warp five and expect to be at Argaya in three days. Computer, end log entry.”
The computer acknowledged with a beep and Carin’s first real mission log entry was consigned to the official record. She hesitated a few moments before finally deciding to make a note of her senior staff’s reactions during the briefing.
“Captain’s Personal Log, supplemental. Although somewhat of a skewed test, my officers displayed some of their core personalities at today’s meeting. Doctor Lalani in particular was…”
Topic: Akyazi: Shake Up (Read 22003 times)