Questions

Posted on Thu Jan 31st, 2013 @ 5:55pm by Fleet Admiral Mike K`Wor Bremer & Commodore Leon `Lee` Pike & Commander Jonathan Coleman & Lieutenant Commander Holly Gillo & Lieutenant Saith i-Ki Baratan & Commodore Alexandra Harrison & Master Chief Petty Officer Mark Branson

3,631 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Mission 81 - Revenge
Location: USS Pegasus, Bridge
Timeline: Following 'Aftermath'

A few minutes later, Mike was leaving his Ready Room, heading for this quarters to shower and change into a clean uniform when he heard Saith speak up.

“Vapor trail indicates one small vessel left the planet.” Saith paused and traced the trail, “It appears to be a slow moving vessel with only two, maybe three life signs. It left from the eastern edge of the base, about 40 minutes ago.” She checked the readings again. “It is trying to use the planets, asteroids, and space junk to mask its movements. Initial scans indicate it has little to no weaponry, no warp capability, and only base shielding. It is definitely not a long duration vessel.”

Mike paused mid-step to look over at Pike. “Take the Perseus and intercept them, bring them back here by whatever means necessary. Take Baratan and Colonel Hurd with a small Marine Squad…and Petty Officer Renfreo as Medic.

Lee nodded and then stood up:"Understood sir." He then tapped his badge as he headed for the turbo lift."Pike to Hurd and Renfreo meet me at the Perseus, and Hurd bring a small squad of your Marines with."

Saith was still in a surly mood, but being put on the team with Captain Pike, et al., picked up her spirits some. She transfered her information about the little ship onto a PADD and logged out of tactical. Standing, she followed Pike off the bridge.

While on the turbolift, she suggested to Pike, "I think this is someone innocuous. Someone who cannot fight, doesn't have a stake in anything." She almost smiled, "if we weren't dealing with smugglers I would say it might even be children. I wonder who it really is . . .?" she let the question die as her thoughts wandered.

Lee shrugged:"Who knows who they could be Ensign, but never underestimate someone."

Saith's temper flaired a little. 'Did Pike and Bremer both think she was stupid!' She blew her air out her nose slowly to release some tension, "Yes sir, of course." she heard the tenseness in her own voice and winced. "I did not mean to imply we should take them lightly," her voice softer this time.

She decided to change the conversation. "Have you spoken to Maal recently?" she asked as innocently as she could.

Lee turned and looked at her:"I wasn't saying you where stupid or anything Ensign, was just looking out for you." He nodded:"Yes I have and Maal sends you a message, jIH muSHa' SoH."

Saith nodded, then she smiled, “he told you to tell me that?” She chuckled softly, “that is about the extent of my Klingon.” She felt herself relax a little, “I guess I am just on edge,” returning to the original discussion. “I seem to have . . . issues . . . with Bremer. I don’t know if it is him, or me, or both of us, but I don’t know if this can work out. I am very angry at him right now, maybe more than I should be. I never mean to screw up but I apparently always do, or at least I always take the blame for things gone wrong. It is always easy to blame the Romulan, especially when she is ‘quick to anger, prone to violence, and spent several years of her childhood in a Romulan institution.’” She sighed; quoting from what she assumed was in her records. Saith leaned her head against the wall of the turbolift and closed her eyes.


Mike knew they wouldn’t be gone long, and probably didn’t need the extra Marine muscle or even the firepower of the Beowulf Refit USS Perseus…but with everything that had happened in the last few days, he didn’t want to take a chance.

Mike then left the Bridge and headed for his Quarters.


Main Engineering

Commander Coleman worked a few commands, when an Ensign came and handed him a PADD to review. He looked it over and made some adjustments to it before handing it back to the Ensign. The Ensign nodded and headed back to working.

Some of the repair team walked through the turbolift doors and greeted Coleman as they walked out of it. "Commander Coleman. We've completed about half the repairs we could without a Spacedock. We should complete the rest of the repairs within the next two hours." One of them, a Lt. Commander, handed him a few PADDs to look over and he needed as he looked them over.

Coleman handed two of the PADDs back to the leader of the group and said, "The SI field running along the Warp Nacelles, as well as the area surrounding it, will be weak until we get back into dock, so try to fix everything you can on the inside and re-route what emergency power to the fields until we get back to Starbase 400."

The Lt. Commander nodded and led his team to the Warp Nacelles to make the repairs. Coleman picked up a blank PADD of his own and started his official report that he wanted to give to Admiral Bremer. He knew that he probably should give the Admiral a little bit of time to recover after everything that happened, so he finished his report up and went to help some of his teams on the SI fields near the Warp Nacelles.

Then, after several minutes, Coleman finished up his report for the Admiral and decided to hand deliver it to him.


Main Shuttle Bay

Lee had made it to the Peresus and was sitting in the command chair waiting for all to report in.

Renfroe (Doc) had heard the summons quickly restocked his med kit and headed for the Perseus quickly jogging through the maze of hallways and corridors to reach his destination.


USS Perseus

Saith moved to the small 'security' station and logged in. She pulled up the computer images and re-located the trail of the little ship they were to capture. "Captain, the ship is currently holding steady behind Remu II. I think they may be trying to decide if we have seen them, and if they can make a run for the shadow of Remu I. Sort of like a mouse deciding if they can make it to the next piece of furniture or not."

Lee nodded:"Do they have any weapons on the ship that you can detect?"

“Scans show minimal weaponry,” Saith replied taking another look at her scans, “there are two photon torpedo launchers but I am also only registering three photon torpedoes available. They don't have a lot but they can hurt us if they do it right.”

She tapped a couple of keys. “In addition to that, there are four DPS turrets; two on front and two on aft, but the ship appears to be running on insufficient energy to fire all of them. Also, since I can scan all of that, she isn’t putting much energy into shields either. Of course, she could just be running low to try and avoid detection, there may be reserves. We definitely outgun her.”

Lee nodded:"Ok we still should be careful and do our best to disable the ship. Target engines and transporter only."

“yes sir,” Saith replied. She carefully tapped coordinates into her computer.

Saith watched her computer as they approached the far side of the planet known as Remus II, the smaller ship was still there. “I don’t know what they are up to, sir” she reported, “they just seem to be sitting there, power is very low. I am locked onto their engines and transporter.”

She tapped on her keyboard, switching her scans. Saith’s brow furrowed in a frown, “There is no indication they are charging weapons, and shielding appears to be at a minimum.” She paused again, “I think they are losing power, scans indicate there are power drops all over the tiny ship. They may NEED us to rescue them if they lose life support.” She glanced at Pike and. the other officers.

"Captain," Saith's voice cut sharply through the little ships bridge, "except for the bridge area, they are out of power. I read 3 lifeforms." She looked to Lee for orders.

Lee nodded then turned to Saith:"Go to the transporter and back up the transporter chief down there."

Lee tapped a button on the command chair:"Pike to transporter chief, when Ensign Bartaan gets down there beam the survivors over from that ship."


Pegasus Bridge

It had been about an hour since he left the Bridge. The Perseus was already back, and the three people they rescued had been treated by Medical and held, separately, from the others they had taken into custody. Mike had just returned to the Bridge. He’d taken his place in the center chair and was looking over two PADDs that held the data recovered from the Outpost’s Command Center.

Alex sat there, feeling guilty for enjoying the death of Westmoreland. She had never taken pleasure in killing anyone. But this time, it was different for her. She could keep telling herself that she was just following orders but she would have ordered it herself if she was in the command chair at that time.

She sat forward into her chair, then she sat back in her chair. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair and sat forward again. She couldn't stop thinking about today's events. She turned her attention to her surroundings. Looking around the room, Alex wondered how many more were affected by all of this like she was. Once again, she leaned back into her chair. Her reaction would haunt her for a long time.

After scanning and making sure no one had been left behind, Lee rose from his seat and made his way over to Alex and then placed a hand on her shoulder.

Alex reached up and placed her hand on his and patted it. All she wanted now was to go home but that wouldn't be for another few days. She sighed.

Saith stood and looked at the center chair. She tried to keep her face neutral, "Permission to leave the bridge, sir?" she asked of Bremer.

“Granted.” Mike replied. He wasn’t sure why she was leaving, but he also didn’t feel the need to question it.

Saith quickly left the bridge and headed for Security. Changing her mind she turned and headed for 10-forward. A drink might help her settle down.

It had been a long very days for everyone, and now that Mike’s temper was starting to settle he felt bad for barking at his crew like he did. As a leader, he knew he shouldn’t take out his frustration on his crew. Looking back, he saw how his Klingon side took over his emotions, he was even giving orders in Klingon…something he hadn’t done in years…probably since the Dominion War.

Coleman out of the turbolift and headed off to the Command Seat, where Bremer was sitting. He gently tapped the PADD against his fingers while he walked. When he got in front of the Admiral, he waited for a moment until the Admiral noticed him and then, handed him the PADD.

Coleman said, "Sir, I have my teams working on getting the ship as spaceworthy as we can without a spacedock. We've got the SI fields and the nacelles working around 50 or 60% of normal, so it might be a little bit of a bumpy ride at higher warp speeds. But, we'll continue working on the repairs as much as possible." Coleman then stood at attention.

Mike nodded, "Thank you Jonathan." He replied, using Coleman's first name to try and seem more personable, normal, again.

Mike walked down to his chair and tapped the intercomm, "Admiral to Gamma Shift, report to the Bridge." He was still a few hours before Gamma Shift was to start, but Alpha Shift, the ship's Senior Staff, had been on the job all day. They needed a break. As Gamma Shift reported to the Bridge, Mike looked back at his Officers.

"Get some sleep, see you all in the morning."

Alex got up and walked towards the turbolift. Her mind was running a mile a minute with thoughts. She found herself stopped in front of Bremer, why, she wasn't quite sure, "Admiral." She stared at him for a quick moment, "Um, goodnight."

Holly just nodded at the Admiral as silent acknowledgement of his order. The day had been long on everyone so she understood why Gamma was being brought on early and didn't raise objection.


10-Forward

Saith slid into a seat in a corner, to deter anyone from sitting with her. "Romulan Ale, and keep them coming" she said as the server approached.

Lee made his way to Ten forward and had found Saith sitting there, he had sensed a lot of turmoil coming from her and had decided to check on her:" i'mae Rihanha 'hh" (Don't you know Romulan ale is illegal)

Saith smiled, “does that make a difference? Rules don't matter do they?" She paused, and then added "He won’t bring me one anyway; he will bring me some cheap, light, human swill. Just so long as it has a little kick.” She gestured for Pike to sit.

Lee chuckled and sat down next to Saith, then turned to the bartender who happen to be Klingon:"nob jIH cha' tlhIngan 'Iw" (Give me two Klingon blood wines)

"I just ordered 2 Klingon blood wines. “

“Hmmm, Maal introduced me to those, they will do in a pinch. Although I have to say it is interesting they are legal but Ale isn't."

The bartender came back with the 2 blood wines. Lee took his glass and raised it"Cheers"

Saith smiled at the server and picked up her blood wine. “Thanks,” she said lifting her glass in Pike’s direction.
“Cheers. Perhaps I can drink myself into oblivion after all.”

She took a drink and laughed although it really wasn’t that funny. Then, seriously, she looked at Pike “so do you know how much trouble I am in with the big boss? Is he going to take away my birthday?” It was a taunt she had heard from her human sister on occasion, and she knew it was mean-spirited and was ashamed the moment it left her mouth. She set her drink down, her face flushed. "Sorry, I should not have said that to you Captain Pike. I guess that is another of my problems, huh?"

Lee took a sip of his blood wine:"When we are off duty it's Lee, Saith."

She nodded.

He blew out a breath:"I will have a talk with Admiral Bremer when we get back to Star Base 400 about you, but I want you to start seeing a Counselor regularly. I think you have some anger management issues you need to deal with. And before you protest about that it's an order Ensign."

Saith flushed again, “Thanks. And yeah, I actually was supposed to go do that already, but things got in the way.” She grinned at Pike, “actually Lee, I LET things get in the way. As I said earlier today, I spent some time in an institution and I don’t like counselors.” Her voice softened a bit, “and since I am being honest I guess I resisted because I felt blind-sided by Bremer when he had her show up in his office, without warning me. So, I basically ignored the order and I was lucky because it got so crazy no one noticed I didn 't go.”

She looked out the window at the star field. Her thoughts literally millions of miles away, she spoke softly, “I shouldn’t have been there you know,” she looked at Lee, “the institution. I was only 7 years old, my father,” she faltered and stopped.

After a minute of not saying anything she looked right at Pike, “my father killed two men, but blamed me. I didn’t realize until later that he put the blame on me, but that is how I originally got there; then I suppose there were other machinations at work to keep me there. I was there until I was 10.”

She quit talking and looked at her hands clasped in her lap. Finally, she looked up, grabbed her bloodwine and drained it, “I learned not to trust anyone. Now I am faced with the knowledge I don’t know anything. I knew, absolutely KNEW I hated Klingons.” She shook her head, “then I met Maal.” She breathed out heavily and lay her face in her hands, "and I am more confused than ever."

Lee sat there listening to her sipping bloodwine:"Am sorry that you had a bad childhood and that your father did what he did to you. It is possible that is part of the reason of your anger issues.


The Next Day

The Starship Inquisitor had arrived in orbit of Remu III. The sleek Ronin class vessel was above and behind the Galaxy Refit Pegasus.

In Bremer's Ready Room, Mike was meeting with Commander Lek Draven and Lieutenant Commander Thomas Cruiser.

"When did you realize Jon Westmoreland was behind the murder?" Draven asked.

Mike looked though his former XO for a moment...

"Sorry Mike, Fleet Admiral Nechayev and Admiral Toddman need to know."

"It's okay." Mike replied. "It was a hunch. Something Janice mentioned during the attack on the Runabout. We ran a close in scan and picked up the Starlighter as they were backing away from the Pegasus after planting three tricobalt charges to hull."

Cruiser stopped Mike there, "Why didn't you call in support from DS9, DS12, Starbase 359, or Starbase 773?"

"At that point, it was personnel." Mike replied, coldly.

"You're report indicates the rescue of Ensign K'Wor was rather easy, considering the circumstances. What do you think Westmoreland's plan was?" Cruiser asked.

Mike shook his head for a moment, "I'm not completely sure, but the evidence suggests that while we were on the ground, engaging his forces, he was trying to return to the Starlighter, lift off, and destroy the warehouse we were in. While the Pegasus was preoccupied with searching for survivors, he would of made his escape."

Cruiser typed on his PADD, "Thankfully that didn't happen."

"Mike," Lek added, "Fleet Admiral Nechayev wants you to meet with a Counselor when you return to Starbase 400." He handed Mike a PADD.

Mike glanced at the PADD, then asked a question of his own. "Did they get anything out of Riggs?"

Cruiser nodded, "It appears Westmoreland was blackmailing him."

"Riggs was assigned by Starfleet Command to make sure anything that remained from the Pegasus-A and Universal was secured. He was a newly promoted Rear Admiral, his Chief of Staff was Captain Jon Westmoreland." Draven explained. "Obviously, the crash site was not cleaned up. Riggs discovered that Westmoreland was harvesting the remains of the ships, their weapons and other surviving systems and looking for buyers. Riggs threatened to report him, but Westmoreland had learned a few things about Riggs."

"Riggs has connections to Section 31. He'd assisted Sloan during the Dominion War, helping him get to and away from DS9 on multiple occasions." Cruiser continued. "Westmoreland also learned that, during the Dominion War, Riggs had given an order to attack Velos Prime. He claimed the Cardassians were building a station there to be used as a jumping off point for an invasion of Trill. There was no Cardassian station or military facility of any kind there at the time, and the raid killed nearly five thousand civilians before the attack was called off. Riggs altered the logs and records to hide the mistake. Westmoreland threatened to revile this to Starfleet Command if Riggs reported him. Riggs went along with it, and Westmoreland left Starfleet."

Draven took a deep breath, "We believe Westmoreland used that again to get Riggs to keep you on Starbase 400, giving him the chance to kidnap K'Wor. Riggs said Westmoreland told him he only wanted to kill you, not your family....not that it excuses anything."

The three men talked for another hour before Draven and Cruiser returned to Inquisitor. They'd told Mike they planned to fully dismantle the remains of the Pegasus-A and Universal, as well as Westmoreland's outpost before returning to Federation space.

Mike had returned to the Bridge and the crew made ready to depart.

"Alex, signal the Inquisitor, we're departing. Chief Branson, set a course for Starbase 400, warp five." Mike ordered.

"Admiral, the Inquisitor acknowledges and says, 'Safe Journey.' Also, Commander Draven says there is something for you in your Ready Room." The Ensign at the Communications Station said as she looked over at Mike.

"Course set Admiral." Branson added.

"Engage Chief." Mike replied as he stood up. He walked into his Ready Room. He saw something sitting on his desk. He was dirty, smudged. He walked over a picked it up...it was the Dedication Plaque from the Pegasus-A. Beside it was a PADD, the text read, 'We found this in Westmoreland's office near to the Outpost's Command Center. We thought you'd want it. Take care Mike. -Lek'

Mike smiled as he looked over the plaque. It was a miracle that it had survived the core breach and entry though Remu III's atmosphere. Mike's mind flashed back to the moments before he was beamed off the Pegasus-A, just before the breach...

In space, the Pegasus turned away from Remu III and sped away at impulse before jumping to warp...heading for home...

OFF:
(We’ll be starting Mission 82 later today…sorry for such a fast turn around, but we have someone new joining, and I want you all to have something to do…and some fun!)

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