A Covert Investigation (part 1)

Posted on Wed Sep 23rd, 2015 @ 12:05pm by Commodore Samantha York & Colonel Damon Raine & Commander Jonathan Martin & Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Tate & Commander Hans Munich & Lieutenant Yui Hirasawa & Lieutenant Commander Damion Wolfe & Lieutenant Austin Brown & Lieutenant Christopher Hartley & Lieutenant Arnon Barak MD, PsyD & Captain Cameron Bourne & Lieutenant JG Maryam Syed & Lieutenant Illise Hale & Lieutenant JG Victoria Drani M.D. & 1st Lieutenant Leroy Mangalia

1,144 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Of Gods and Men
Location: Conference Room

ON

The odd reading that came periodically from the planet was enough to pique Sam's curiosity. It was anomalous enough to warrant a closer look -- as long as they did so in the guise of travelers from another part of the planet. Now she needed to present her plans to the senior staff.

So, once again, she called a briefing of her senior staff and their assistants. A variety of drinks and breakfast pastries were set out for the morning meeting and Sam sat back to wait.

Victoria entered the lounge and was surprised to find that she was the first there save for Sam, of course. Drani nodded. "Hello, Sam." She then noticed the snacks placed on a nearby table. She looked over them and grabbed two tulaberry cookies and a glass of milk. "So, um, where exactly is my seat?"

"Anywhere," Sam said, giving the doctor a warm smile. "There are no assigned seats -- except for the person directing the meeting."

Jennifer Tate was next to enter the room having been invited by York to sit in on the briefing. As she entered she nodded courteously to the CO. "Commodore." She took a seat at the far end of the table setting down the PADD she had brought containing information on the planet should the Chief of Intelligence be unable to attend the meeting.

"Hello, Commander."

Arnon entered the conference room. He smiled when he saw Victoria.

"Hello, Doctor Drani," he said with a sly smile.

Leroy walked in, his hair still damp. "Boss," he said nodding to Sam before grabbing a seat near the back. Reaching up he grabbed a pastry before taking a mousey like bite. Grabbing a padd from his hip, he started going over a quiz that had been sent through to the OCS class.

Victoria smiled and nodded at Arnon as she finished her cookie.

The doors opened and Yui walked in, led by her nose of course. "I thought I could smell breakfast from the helm..." she said as she picked up a croissant, spread some strawberry jam on it and sunk down into a seat munching happily. "Do you do these to go?" she asked looking at Sam.

"Talk to the chef in Cousteau's Grotto," Sam said. "They can make them to order."

Jonathan walked in with a PADD held by his right hip with a cup of tea carried by his left hand. He preferred his tea a certain way so he always brought his own from his quarters. He smiled and nodded to the officers who were already in the room and proceeded to take a seat.

Illise entered with a few PADDs in hand, containing data from their scans of the planet. "Hello Commodore," she nodded to Sam, and grabbed a cup of coffee. Pausing to consider the pastries, she picked out a raspberry turnover before taking a seat. Illise smiled at the others in the room in greeting, but her thoughts were a little distant, pondering the situation at hand.

"Hello, Lieutenant," Sam replied. "I look forward to hearing what you've found so far."

Austin was the next to enter and take her seat. She nodded to the Commodore as she sat.

Munich came into thwe meeting having made sure the bridge was covered. "Sorry Commadore, the Bridge is set and all readings being recorded." He assured.

Damon entered and took his normal station, that is to say he found a wall and leaned up against it. His arms crossed his chest and he gave those that entered the room a quite smile. He wasn't much for saying anything unless it was important.

Sam didn't have to look to know Damon was there. Still, she couldn't help smiling. He had always been her most valued advisor.

The clicking of heels preceeded Spartacus as she was not that far behind Munich, she had her tailored Uniform of Silk dyed to match the Star Fleet uniform and tailored to fit her perfectly. Today she wore the small silver ear rings and nher legs bare between the hemline and her boots. The smile on her face was warm and she held a PADD in hand.

"Hello Samantha, I hear you requested me at this meeting?"

"I did," Sam confirmed. "Have a seat."

Cam was next to enter. He wasn't deliberately delayed, he was just having to much fun running the new arrivals through their paces, "sorry Commodore" he said, taking his seat

Chris walked in, and grabbed a coffee and croissant. Taking a seat, he looked around. "Sorry for the delay, just been having to purge some of the EPS relays." Chris said.

****

When everyone was assembled, Sam stood. "Thank you for arriving promptly. First, what do you have to report?"

"Medical is fully stocked and prepared. I've gotten a chance to meet my staff and feel comfortable that we can handle any situation that may arise," Drani reported.

"Very good. Thank you," Sam said. "Science?"

Illise picked up a different PADD and transferred some data to the view-screen. "The signature appears to be coming from the south-east continent. We've narrowed the location to an area of approximately 100 square kilometers." An enlarged orbital image appeared on the screen. A river ran through the center of a medium-sized city. Paved roads tracing rolling hills, radiated outwards to several small towns surrounded by cultivated farmland. They seemed like little more than pale thin lines against the landscape.

"Due to the interference, we are unable to get any more detail scans of the area so we can't narrow the location any farther." Illise paused for a moment before adding, "...at least not from orbit." She quickly squashed the feeling of unease that rose in her chest at the suggestion.

Illise took a sip of her coffee, then consulted one of the PADDs from the small stack in front of her. "We've continued to track the technological signature that was detected earlier. Unfortunately, we are still encountering interference with our scans." she reported. "Data collected on the planet confirms a pre-industrial, agrarian society. There are no indications that the civilization is capable of the type of technology required to produce the signature. It is definitely not native to the planet."

"Thank you," Sam said. It supported her own analysis. She didn't say as much, but it was nice to know that she was still reading the situation correctly.

(To be continued...)

Commodore Samantha York
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Victoria Drani
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Tate
Intelligence Officer

Lieutenant Arnon Barak
Chief Counselor

Master Chief Leroy Mangalir
Flight Leader

Lieutenant Yui Hirasawa
Chief Flight Control Officer

Commander Johnathan Martin
Mission Advisor

Lieutenant Commander Hans Munich
Acting XO

Colonel Damon Raine
Chief Strategic Operations Officer

Lieutenant Austin Brown
Chief Operations Officer

Ensign Teenah Spartacus
Counselor

Lieutenant Christopher Hartley
Chief Engineer

Lieutenant JG Illise Hale
Chief Science Officer

 

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