Ultimatum - Part 2

Posted on 31 Jan 2016 @ 10:16pm by Commodore Da`nal of the House of Varal & Lieutenant Commander Samuel Killpatrick

2,207 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: M13-C: Shattered Time
Location: DS9
Timeline: Prior to departure

Sam was interested in the Klingon Commodore’s' response, he had met a fair number of the flag officers in Starfleet over the past few years, there was varying quality in regards to professionalism. There was also varying levels of empathy and ambition, Sam had been involved in a number of off-the-books operations to remove over ambitious officers who had managed to rise to ranks where they threatened the sanctity of the federation. In all that time, Sam had learned to read people fairly well. So when he felt that the Commodore was being sincere in his statement he trusted that perception he had developed.

"One, it would seem your brother has a desire to torment you. Two, the Federation seems indifferent to your plight. So you can remain here and face the charges against you alone and continue to have your brother bait you. Or...you can join my mission, get a fresh start and let my assets deal with your wayward brother in a more...attentive manner."

"And say, for the sake of argument I agreed to assist in your mission, how precisely would I be helping you? For that matter, am I privy to what that mission is?" Sam asked in response, he never liked to give answers off of the cuff, he preferred to have as much information as possible before moving.

He leaned forward his expression deathly serious; "I'm no Ferengi, so I could care less one way or the other. I simply know what it is like to have something regarding family honor cast aside by command. I have offered you assistance in dealing with your problem, so you can take it or leave it." Leaning back he continued. "However your questions are simple enough to answer. First, I will gain a capable officer. One that knows how to get things done, and one that won't need to be looking over his back anymore. Our mission is hardly a secret and is simply pure exploration. But make no mistake will on our own. From here we pass through Cardassian space, skirting Ferengi space and then into the unexplored expanse of the Alpha and eventually Gamma Quadrants. All we will have is the resources of this ship and our escorts, and what we find along the way. A lot of the crew will never see this area of space again, but will also see and experience things no one in this quadrant will ever see or experience. When our mission is complete...in approximately 70 years...we return home through the wormhole having made history."

"That's a long trip." Sam stated calmly, "You understand, I did not ask for clarification in an attempt to barter for a better deal. My first duties is to the Federation, and whilst I’m certain you wouldn’t knowingly undertake a course that would damage it, I cannot in good conscience agree to an action without knowing that it won't hurt the Federation. I'm not entirely certain that my presence on your mission is in the best interest of the federation incidentally, but we'll get back to that, I have other questions for the minute.

"I find it unusual that Starfleet is willing to release one of it's two ascension class ships into an indeterminate mission to the depths and ends of space." There were, according to the Starfleet ledgers, two ascension class ships in the fleet, in actuality there were three, one was hidden within Intelligence, and sat, mostly unused at a secret anchorage hidden in a black hole cluster. "For a start, the strategic implications of divesting of one of the most powerful ships in the arsenal are considerable." Sam stated, "Further, how are they intending to support such a ship, that far out, you have no opportunities for resupply, you'd need to cut crew in half at least just to make the distance, and that significantly reduces performance, and longevity of the ship. As it stands the Ascension class has the longest lifespan of almost any warship in the fleet, but that only lasts so long, the Ascension still needs to be put into dry-dock every two to ten years for overhaul and refit. You're talking about taking seven times that long before a full overhaul can be performed.

"I'm not saying it isn't possible, but within thirty years at the outside the ship would essentially be unfit to combat enemies that we may encounter. And that brings me to the next issue, ordinance, how could we possible carry enough to last us a seventy year cruise. What happens if we get twenty years in and find ourselves fighting an enemy with enough resources to drain our stores of all of our missiles Then there is the matter of escort, normally an Ascension class ship would have a skeleton escort of five top of the line warships. this is because the Ascension class is capable of providing the necessary logistical support for the warships, and because to cover all of the vulnerabilities of the ascension you really need an effective screening force. How many escorts do you have, I counted two, even if you double that for ships I didn't see, perhaps on patrol in the shadow of the ship, you are still one short. You understand, I'm not questioning you, or your command, I'm questioning the motivation behind the fleet's decision to undertake this mission. To me, it strikes me as the actions of a political enemy divesting himself of a threat to his power."

"Well you bring up several issues and you wouldn't be the first person to question Starfleet's decisions." He cast a hand at bulkhead, "These ships ARE the top of the line and an honor to serve on, but others are under construction. That aside, these vessels could start an arms race with the other powers, by dispatching this mission it proves to all that Starfleet's primary role is exploration. one reason I need a good Intel officer aboard due to the presence of Romulan, Cardassian, Klingon delegations, and who knows what other foreign operatives that may try to or have managed to infiltrate.

As to our resources...we are fully prepared. Eventually we will have to resupply either by mining it ourselves or by other arrangements; of that their is no doubt. But that is the problem with most officers today...they are to used to having things within arms reach. Voyager made significant progress without any of the resources or capabilities we will have at our disposal. So if they can make it as far as they did...we will complete our mission.

"Your other concerns...are not yours to be concerned about. That's my job. But be assured everyone of them are covered. Will we have to adapt and over come from time to time? Yes. Will we overcome? Yes."

The side door to his ready room opened and his yeoman entered. "Pardon the interruption sir but we were just informed that the Academy transport has been delayed."

"How long?"

"12 hours."

Nodding to his long time yeoman and friend, "Thank you."

Looking back to his guest. "The question remains. If you choose to join us, you won't have to worry about your brother continuing to disrupt your life. You will be able to heal...serve with honor and without distraction...and be assured that he will be hunted down. Or you can remain here; be treated as a vigilante by the authorities and never know when he might come after you or those you care about again."

"I stopped being scared of him coming after me a long time ago," Sam said frankly, "And I'm getting pretty thin on those I care about." Sam said, making it clear that those sorts of issues weren't going to make an impact on his decision, "I'm also pretty certain I can overcome people seeing me as a vigilante." Sam added, once again knocking back another argument for his presence on the mission. "But you are correct in one area, and have missed another compelling reason for me to undertake this mission." Sam said, "Firstly, the diplomatic operation does bear observation, I have expertise in both intelligence and counter intelligence, which makes me suited for the job. Second, and this is the one you missed, wherever we go we are going to need to develop assets to keep apprised of developing situations in our path back to the federation. That means you are going to need someone who is adept at developing Intelligence networks, I happen to be one of the few who is capable of developing and maintaining such a network, moreover, among those who can do it, I'm considered to be one of the best." Sam thought on it for a few moments then came to a decision, "Very well sir, I'll need to organize for my gear to be shipped here, but I will accompany you."

Da`nal's eyes narrowed slightly; knew he had mentioned his need for, and the he considered him a capable officer. How that equated in his 'missing' anything he didn't know, but decided to let him think what he wanted. There was an air about him that was either arrogance or merely a shield...time would tell.

As an afterthought Sam added, "About the Shadow sir, I have a good case to claim that vessel, as it is a pirate vessel which was seized during the execution of a crime. Since I was working alone, the craft would then be placed under my ownership to do with as I see fit. I would posit, that the vessel is ideally suited to carry out surveillance and monitoring tasks. Given that, I would probably maintain the ship as an auxiliary craft attached to the Intelligence department."

"I am glad to hear you've decided to join us." Taking a pull from his drink, he continued. "I have long thought there was a need for a non-affiliated craft, for multiple reasons so it will be moved to the shuttle bay and secured with the other large auxiliary craft and will be used to support our mission...as I see fit. That said I see nothing negate your salvage claim so the ship will remain yours, but i want you to put together a multi departmental team to crew it.

"Now, I will deal with the station authorities so don't worry about them. Just one more, unofficial question...what do you want done with your brother when those of my house find him?

Sam thought about that, by federation law his brother should be arrested, so that he could serve a punitive sentence in one of the federation's prisons. Sam however, had spent the majority of his adult life acting as fixer, and problem solver, firefighting in developing hotspots and mitigating risks to the federation. In that time, he had served out what could charitably called 'fast tracked sentences' and more accurately be called assassination on a number of threats that were best removed from the general public. Sam had no qualms about performing those actions, they had to be done sometimes. Sam did question his motives towards his brother however, unfortunately, whether he liked it or not, his personal feelings affected his opinions on his brother, so he had to ask himself, if this were someone else what would he do? He came to a decision, "Arrested if possible, if he shows even the slightest sign of resistance, even while restrained, killed." Sam finally said

Nodding slowly; his answer not only answered the spoken question but let him know he was willing to see that the job was done. "Very well. I will contact the man overseeing my House while I'm away. Being in the intel community you may have heard of him, Charghwl'IH His service in the Federation was not without its high profile periods, and while active in the KDF he was with Klingon internal security...he even won the Empire's bat'leth tournament last year. I will have him contact you to get the details of the situation.

"There is another situation that you will need to be briefed on, but get the Shadow transferred to the Achilles and get settled. Once we are on the way I will fill you in. Any questions?

"The name is familiar," Sam stated, he didn't need to go further into it, he had a fair proportion of assets in the Klingon systems, a necessity, what with the somewhat recent instabilities. "I have no further questions for the minute, I'll need to make some arrangements however," he'd need to move his network into a watch and wait pattern, some of them would never hear from him again, but when the time was right, he'd gather all of the intelligence they had collected for him. He would also have to contact his adoptive father, that man would want constant updates on the progress of the mission, and Sam suspected he would have developed a communication method for a situation where they were outside normal communication lines.

Nodding slightly he turned pressing a tab on his desk and activated his holo-monitor. "Very well. Dismissed...and welcome aboard."


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Commodore Da`nal
CO

Lt Commander Samuel Killpatrick
Chief Intel/Strategic Operations

 

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