The Encounter
Posted on Fri Sep 30, 2016 @ 2:35am by Commodore Michael Aravan & Captain Madelina Weisz & Lieutenant Commander Arrda & Lieutenant Phen Caticasse & Master Chief Petty Officer Thomas Barnes & Lieutenant Akash Misra & Lieutenant Dalton McNamara
Mission:
An Orion to Die For
Location: Orion Section/Docking Port
Timeline: MD 2 || 1200 Hours
The Triumphant had been at warp for three hours when Lieutenant McNamara looked up from his Science station. "Captain," he said. "I'm picking up an Antares-class freighter bearing zero four zero mark nine five one, Sir. It's identified as the Zeus which is contracted out to Starfleet on load to Orion Sector Tactical Command."
Michael looked up from his Command chair, wishing that the bridge of the ship wasn't so massive. He almost had to strain his ears to hear what the reports were when the senior officers made them. "Estimated time to contact?" Michael asked Lieutenant Misra.
The Chief of Flight looked over his shoulder after checking the holographic interface. "At current warp, one hour and five minutes, Sir," he reported crisply.
"Increase speed to warp nine," Michael ordered as he came to his feet and walked to the end of the bridge where he could be closer to the senior officers. Even though he couldn't feel it or notice any changes, he sensed the increase in warp. "Estimated time now?"
"Fifteen minutes, Sir," Misra reported.
Michael looked back at McNamara. "Any sign of other ships in the area?"
"No, Sir," the Science Chief said.
Michael nodded and walked back to where his Executive Officer sat in the chair to the right of his command chair. "Looks like we may have some survivors, Commander," he noted.
"It would appear that way, Captain," Commander Weisz said, turning her attention toward Michael as he approached. "They don't appear to be in distress, either, but given where we are and all the slavers and pirates in the area, it begs to be boarded. Perhaps, we should proceed with caution... just to be safe. Mister Barnes, hail them."
"Aye, sir," Tom replied. He'd kept the subspace transceiver active to keep an eye on local comm traffic, so it only took a minute adjustment to direct a portion of the antenna towards the freighter. Another button opened several frequencies, all on the carrier frequencies attributed to charter vessels. "USS Triumphant to Freighter Zeus. Come in please."
Jondail, the Romulan who was posing as a Vulcan, looked at his Cardassian associate and motioned for him to go get the Orion woman, then answered the hail. "This is the freighter Zeus," he answered calmly. "Lieutenant Straudak of ....." he toggled the switch that would generate static on the frequency to break his words up. "Myself and a small group managed to escape..." Again, he toggled it. "... our communications are limited due to damage."
"Stand by, Zeus," Tom replied and then pressed the mute button. "Captain," Tom said, looking up from his console at the man with the quadruple pips. "Sounds like the Zeus escaped from Sector Command or something else. They've suffered damage. Most of their transmission was garbled, sir."
Michael looked up before he came to his feet again. "Get a verification of the person you spoke to," he said. "Did they send a SSC 39 code with their message?"
"If they did," Tom replied as he shook his head, "it's just as garbled as the rest of the transmission. Even with the channel muted, I'm still detecting a lot of static and distortion. It's not even staying in place long enough for me to even verify anyone's identity. All I have so far is a Lieutenant Straudak."
"Computer," Michael said. "Confirm Lieutenant Straudak in relation to Orion Center Tactical Command."
"Lieutenant Straudak, Vulcan male. Service ID 714-5641. Currently assigned to Engineering section of Orion Center Tactical Command. Do you wish further information? " the computer responded after a second.
"No, thank you," he said and looked at Barnes. "See if you can get a verification, Mister Barnes."
Meanwhile on the Zeus, Vash made her way to the cramped bridge. "Remember to verify any protocols they have," she hissed. "You know how Starfleet is with that and don't garble it." She grabbed a PADD and looked at it. "Yes. It's Ess Ess Cee Thirty-Nine. Attack by unknown agents on Federation personnel. Tell them it was a group of pirates if they ask who attacked, but the sensors had been wiped out before you could get an identification on them."
Jondail nodded. "As you will," he said and prepared to deliver the protocol if he was asked for it.
Chief Petty Officer Barnes' voice crackled for a moment as the channel was unmuted. "Freighter Zeus, we're having trouble reading you. Please repeat your transmission in accordance with standard protocol."
This time, the Romulan didn't put the static in the transmission. "Ess Ess Cee Thirty-Nine," he said clearly. The Cardassian posing as a human officer interjected while making his voice sounding pained. "Ess Ess Cee Thirty-Nine confirmed. This is Lieutenant Commander Jackson, Assistant Chief of Security for Orion Sector Tactical Command. We have injuries, Triumphant and need medical assistance. What is your ETA?"
Dalton looked at his sensors and sent them to Barnes, the numbers now counting down to nine minutes.
Tom had kept his eyes on the console as the transmission continued, the computer verifying the code as Strauduak and Jackson spoke. Tapping the mute button again, he looked up at the Captain. "Codes check out, sir," he announced.
Michael nodded and verified the name of Lieutenant Commander Jackson through the computer and got a confirmation. "Estimated time to intercept?"
Thomas verified the numbers the Science Chief had passed to him. "Just under nine minutes."
"Tell them to set a course for zero one four mark three one nine," Michael said. "We'll intercept in nine minutes."
The Chief nodded and turned back to his panel. Pressing the button to restore his audio input, he calmly said, "Zeus, this is Triumphant. Adjust your course bearing zero one four, mark three one nine. We'll be within range in nine minutes. Please prepare your wounded for transport first."
"Acknowledged, Triumphant," the response came back. "Zeus out."
=^=Aravan to Sickbay,=^= Michael said as he tapped his combadge. =^=Prepare for injuries.=^=
=^=Acknowledged, moving triage teams to medical transporters to receive.=^= Finn's voice came through the commbadge clearly. =^=Any word on what to expect, sir?=^= He added quickly, the sound of the medical teams rushing in the background leaking through just a bit.
Michael double-tapping his combadge and looking at Dalton. "How many lifesigns are on the Zeus, Lieutenant McNamara?"
Dalton double checked his sensors again. "Fifteen, Sir," he replied.
The Captain once more tapped his combadge =^=Roughly fifteen, Lieutenant Caticasse.=^=
=^=Noted. We'll be ready for them. Medical out.=^= Finn's voice chimed before cutting out quickly.
Maddy didn't like this, but she had a hard time trusting anyone when it came to being in a part of space full of pirates and slavers. And, this... none of it sat well with her. The fact that the initial transmission can through as broken as it did, yet their own transmission went through without incident waved the red flags in her head. "Captain... forgive me for my lack of trust, but for the safety of this ship and our crew, I feel it would be best if we dispatched Security to sickbay and the docking port. At least two armed personnel per individual that will be coming aboard at all times," the German woman said, turning her attention to Michael. "I also think that it would be in our best interest to keep them separated."
Michael nodded at his Executive Officer's rapid action response. "Get Lieutenant Mallory on it and coordinate." He stopped, then smirked. "Let my brother know, too."
"Will do, Captain," the XO said as she rose to her feet and made her way off of the bridge. She wasn't taking any chances, and if it made her look paranoid, then that was just fine with her. The safety of everyone on board the Triumphant was her primary concern, and she planned to do whatever it took to make sure they all stayed as safe as possible.
Maddy paused and looked toward Mallory. "Lieutenant Mallory, issue General Quarters One. Have thirty of your personnel dispatched to sickbay and the docking port to greet our guests. Two of our personnel to one of theirs at all times," she ordered, and the tone she used left zero room for argument. With those orders issued, she made her way off of the bridge to head down to Marine country.
Douglas decidedly did not like the "smell" of this situation. First Tactical Command goes silent in a region of space notorious for its pirates and the like; then they get a garbled-only-in-one-direction communication from a freighter supposedly carrying survivors. It all smelled just a bit too convenient to him. It smelled like a trap, and he hated traps. He was exceedingly grateful that the Executive Officer apparently smelled it too and gave that order.
"Aye, ma'am." he acknowledged. His next statement went over the intra-ship PA system. "All crew, we are now at General Quarters One. Repeat, General Quarters One." he informed, cutting off the PA then and sending the appropriate orders to his people to follow Commander Weisz's orders. In response, two groups of 16 people moved out. One group went to the docking bay and one group to Sickbay. Each group, as per the agreement between Security and the Marines prior to arrival in this sector, consisted of 8 members of Security and 8 Marines. Yes, the Commander had said to send 30, and this was 32, but he wanted to be sure that there were two per "guest" as ordered.
He had briefly considered sending thirty and thirty -- they did not know, after all, how many from that freighter would be going where. He restrained that level of paranoia, however, and did only as ordered, sending 32 total.
"Estimate time in three minutes, Captain," the Flight Chief announced.
"I want a full sensor sweep of that area," Michael ordered.
Dalton initiated the sweep and waited for the sensors to report back. "There's nothing but the Zeus in the area, Sir," he reported.
Michael nodded. "Time to meet up."
The Orion woman Vash allowed herself to be put in fake hand restraints and had her weapons removed before the Zeus finally docked with the massive Federation ship. It was a huge prize and she looked at the men and women who had been selected for the mission with an inner smile. "Remember," she said. "Once we're on the ship, the odds are good we'll be covered by Security. We aren't going to fool them for long, so take any senior officers you can. We'll meet up at Operations." She waited until they all acknowledged, then allowed the Romulan and Cardassian who were disguised as a Vulcan and a human to stand on either side of her in their stolen Starfleet uniforms and waited.
Master Sergeant Gage Aravan sent one squad to Sickbay and went to the Docking Bay with the other squad where he had them form up in a staggered wedge formation. "Shoot to stun the moment they try anything," he ordered his men and received an "Aye, Master Sergeant!" in return.
The Security detail that Douglas Mallory had sent to the Docking Bay arrived nearly simultaneously with the Marine contingent. They arrayed themselves in a semi-surround pattern designed to allow them to immediately surround whomever came off that ship the moment they cleared the hatch. It was clear from their movements and arrangement that the Security Chief had as much of a bad feeling about this as they did and was taking no chances.
The lead of the team nodded to Aravan as he approached. He was a relatively tall man with dark hair, graying at the temples and steel blue eyes that showed clarity and readiness. He and his people all had their phasers set to stun and held at the ready, just in case. He, himself, stood beside the marine lead and waited silently, hand on his phaser
TBC
