A New Home and a New Crew

Posted on Sun Mar 26th, 2023 @ 10:41pm by Captain Charlotte Rhodes & Lieutenant Alex Drake
Edited on on Wed Apr 5th, 2023 @ 8:05am

1,978 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 1: Runner
Location: Ready Room, USS Defiant
Timeline: MD 2; 1300

Alex steadied himself as the shuttle landed in the shuttlebay of the defiant, as last time he hadn't, he had fallen on his face. Stepping out of the shuttle, he took a quick glance around, taking in his surroundings. Noting the various folks going about their business, he stepped out of the bay into the corridor.

He mentally referenced the map he'd memorized, noting that he had to go to deck 1 to meet with the CO on the bridge. He also intended to stop by his office on deck 9 and his quarters on deck 5.

Arriving at the lift, he stepped in, keying in for deck 9 first, deciding to work his way up the ship first. As he arrived on deck 9, he looked for the Central Intelligence office, thankfully only having to backtrack slightly to find it. Walking in, he spoke. "Please tell me there are reports for me." Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, an Ensign hands him a tablet.

"Yes sir. Latest reports from Starfleet Intelligence. I've gone ahead and sorted them for you, sir." The Ensign said, causing Alex to nod. "Thank you, Ensign. Keep up the good work." He said, as he turned and left the office.

Heading down to the lift, he stepped in and keyed in for deck 5 this time, wanting to drop off his stuff. As he reached the deck, he dashed down the corridor, quickly arriving at the door to his quarters. He entered, dropping his bag in the middle of the floor and making sure everything else was in order before leaving again.

He was finally on to his last stop, the bridge. Returning to the lift, and muttering about poor ship design, Alex stepped in, keying in for the bridge. Finally, the last destination of his quest. And where he probably should have gone first.

As the lift arrived, he took a moment to tug the hem of his uniform tunic down, and smoothed out a non-existent wrinkle. Didn't want to look like he'd slept in his uniform for the last week, even though he might have. He stepped out and marveled at the bridge. No matter how many times he was on a starship, he always thought the Bridge was the most beautiful part of the ship.

He glanced around, taking in the various officers working as he walked towards where the Captain--or at least who he assumed was the Captain--sat. Making mental notes of who was working where and how they worked.

As he rounded the corner to come to in front of the Captain, he first made sure it was actually her before speaking.

"Lieutenant Alex Drake, reporting in, Captain." He said, coming to attention while still holding the tablet with the intelligence reports.

Rhodes looked up from her chair’s built in terminal. “Lt. Drake, our Intelligence Chief! I’d heard you were supposed to arrive today. Welcome aboard, Lieutenant. Hopefully your flight wasn’t too diverted by the recent Ion Storm activity.”

"Thankfully it wasn't." Alex responded, holding out the tablet. "Latest reports from Starfleet Intelligence, I haven't had a moment to fully read them myself."

“No worries. I haven’t had much time myself. We can review them in my Ready Room.” The Captain nodded as she took a look at them. “Hmm…looks like more issues along the Klingon Border. Alright, suppose we should review these now. Care to join me,” she asked as she rose to her feet and made her way across the bridge.

Alex nodded, "of course, Captain." He stepped slightly to one side as she passed and quietly followed her into the room.

The doors slide open to reveal the Captain’s Ready Room. It was lit in a bright but inviting manner. Along the outside shelf, several models of her previous posts were visible. A Cardenas-class, a Walker-class, and now a Constitution. The large viewscreen was set to a serene live image of the nearby Carina Nebula.

Her desk was kept mostly clean, with a cactus from her home displayed. 2 pictures, one of a Vulcan man, woman, and a young girl and one of a younger woman in an Academy uniform bearing a striking resemblence to Rhodes were the only personal effects displayed. Everything else was an astronomical or landscape shot.

As she took the seat behind her desk, Rhodes gestured to one of the chairs. “Please, take a seat, Lieutenant. Can I grab you anything to drink?”

"Coffee, black." Alex said, taking a seat. "Of course it's all the Klingons." He said, in reference to the intel reports. "Is it ever not the Klingons?"

"Only when it's also the Romulans." The Captain input his drink into her food synthesizer along with her own latte and watched as it filled the two mugs placed there. Turning around with the two steaming mugs. "I must say I'm excited to actually provide intel to an Intel Officer for a change. It's usually a one way street. But the very latest rumors are that there is a massive trade underway between the Romulans and the Klingons. One which might be so big that it involves ship chassis. I imagine you can think of the one thing that trade could be about."

Alex's eyes went wide as soon as he realized the implications. "Ok we have two major problems here. The chain of information is broken here. Why was Starfleet Intelligence aware of this trade? Was this information only recently discovered?" Alex was very serious about the chain of information. "Then we also have the issue of how many people know about this. I'd rather not have an entire ship whispering about a Klingon-Romulan alliance before anything can be confirmed."

Charlotte enjoyed her amusement at his reaction for only a moment. It was serious news of the highest order, but watching her intel chief’s head spin was at least slightly amusing. “Don’t panic. This Intel is in your brief as of your arrival on Defiant, you just haven’t had time to review it. It came in directly from the top of the chain mere hours ago. I don’t even know if Admiral Denovitz back on Arcadia is aware yet. The only reason I even was read in was because of a mission I undertook a few months ago and my lack of an Intel head. Honestly had you arrived about 3 hours earlier, our conversation would be flipped.”

"Okay, good. We can avoid a crisis like occurred on the Berlin. Good lord, those people didnt know what 'classified information' meant." Alex smirked at the thought of his last assignment. "It's very unsettling, though to have Klingons and Romulans working together. I don’t like it."

"Nor do I," Charlotte added, taking a sip from her mug. "Seems we're going to have our work cut out for us. But before we get too deep into the intrigue, I wanted to get to know the person I'll be relying on to parse this intel. I'm going to assume you're not just a spook all the time. Tell me a little about yourself and how you ended up here on Defiant."

"Heh. Not as spectacular a story as you might think." Alex said, taking a long drink out of his own mug. "I had initially intended to get through the academy as security. Found out when I was a year out from graduation some information that I probably shouldn't have."

He intentionally left out the part where he'd broken into an Admiral's personal terminal to look at his own record. "That spurred me to want to see what this whole Intelligence game was about. And well, here we are."

"I can certainly understand the indecision. It's tough choosing what you think you want to do for the rest of your life. Hell, I straddled helm and science so long I just made it look like Command was the plan the whole time," she replied, debating how best to broach the next subject. "If I understand, you got some...news about your family around then too?"

Alex nodded, pressing his lips together firmly. "Apparently they were terrorists. I spent the next two years reading reports about the Earth's Identity Movement, in between my classes. And maybe during some of my classes. Commander Davis routinely had to remind me to stop." He chuckled a little at the memories.

"Would've been nice to have known that ahead of time." He said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I know it's not, but I feel like Starfleet Intelligence is still having that held over my head. Since I'm a child of terrorists, I must be one, kind of mentality."

"I know the feeling," Charlotte said, letting out a sigh. "My own family has struggled to be the kind of upstanding citizens that so many trillions of souls manage to be. It wasn't always the case, but my father and my brother ended up essentially becoming arms dealers. My relationship with them had long since frayed, but it didn't stop the questions arising. When I headed up a task force to bring their organization down and was shot nearly fatally by my brother, that's when the rumors went away. I'd recommend finding a less dangerous method."

Alex looked down at his uniform for a second before looking back at Charlotte. "Yes, because 'less dangerous' fits perfectly with 'intelligence'" he joked. "I've been trying to tell them that having operatives out of contact is not conducive to health but they don't listen to me."

"I'm happy to try and bark up that tree if the time comes, but it'd be up to you. I know sometimes a superior getting involved doesn't always resolve things," Charlotte said, setting her mug to the side. "On more pressing issues, I know Defiant has a built in intel suite, but I imagine its just the basics that would come with constructing any vessel with an intel suite. Any immediately pressing needs you've got? I can reach out to Starbase Arcadia for a supply run."

"Things you can get? There are these things, you'll likely see them on the supply lists as Vulcan Red Beans. They're not beans, they're long-distance subspace transmitters. Basically like a version of a one-way communicator that also functions as a subspace relay beacon." Alex said, quietly. "They typically are listed as coming in 30s, so one bunch should do it. I don't need to use them often, but I never have enough and they never come standard."

The Captain’s eyebrows shot up at the request. “Fascinating! I had no idea there even was such a thing. Consider the request filed.” She tapped out a note to herself to put in the requisition. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the kinds of gadgets you all get up to in Intel. Alright, I guess last thing I’ve got before I let you get settled in: do you have any questions for me? Either about your CO or the ship.”

"They don't exist. Why do you think they're listed as beans?" Alex joked with a smile. "Just one. I've got my certification as a bridge officer. Intelligence doesn't normally get to be on a bridge, would you like me on yours?"

"I think I would. At least some of the time. I tend to like having a decent number of advisors on the bridge. Our Counselor has a spot up there. We have some additional terminal space, so I'll see if you can get a good seat," the Captain said. "It would likely be shared flex terminal though. I figure you'll be indisposed at times."

"I agree. However, it can't hurt." Alex stood up, "Anything else, Captain?"

She shook her head. "Nothing at present. Go get yourself settled in to your quarters."

"Yes ma'am." Alex said, exiting the room.

 

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