Klingons And Conspiracies - Part II

Posted on Thursday March 31st, 2022 @ 12:29am by Lieutenant Commander Curzon Bennett

Mission: EPISODE 1: SHAKEDOWN
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: MD04 1615

::ON::

'More time than we have, I assume - there are some three or four days before we hit the border.' Bennett sighed as he looked at the technical readout of the Vor'cha class. 'It's a big ship. Catches the eye, don't you think?' He rubbed a hand across his chin. 'Do you think it could be a distraction - like you say, Klingon Intelligence uses much smaller ships.'

"I could reach out too one of the listening outposts and see if they have some raw comm traffic." Jason said knowing that the genie was out of the bottle.

'That would be appreciated - can we pipe it through to here?' Bennett indicated the monitor on the bulkhead behind the younger Lieutenant, 'see if we can't crack this nut.' He pulled up a briefing from the days before Oberon was launched, 'we know that when we cross the Empire, we're crossing across the territory of two Minor Houses,' he manipulated the map to show the political division within the Empire. 'We know from long experience they both maintain at least six Birds of Prey in two flights. Two of those four flights are usually used to patrol the border for pirates and the like. Yet, all we can see is the Vor'Cha.'

Jason started keying in some commands into his pad "The remote access accepted my codes so we can..." pausing followed by an electronic noise "There, sensor images, comm traffic, and some other assets."

Jason stood up, keyed in a command "There it is, not exactly hiding either, big bastard too."

'Huge,' agreed Bennett. 'She'd give us a run for our money if she was hostile,' he said with characteristic bluntness. 'So. A distraction, then,' he said with finality, turning to the Intelligence Officer for his assessment. 'What do you think Lieutenant? A distraction to allow those Birds of Prey to patrol without interference?'

"Flexing, a 'look at our new big ship' moment, these weapons pods are a bit concerning, multi fire torpedo's? something new?" Jason said zooming is too the limits of the images "Our Chief engineer is Klingon right? I'll talk with him later see what he thinks."

'That he is,' Bennett replied as he looked at the ship. 'A sound move, he'll be better equipped to make an on-site analysis than us.' He sighed, 'alright, what was the last known position of the Birds of Prey patrols?'..

Scrolling through his notes, "Here" a map of the patrol pattern appeared on screen, "They are mainly along the shipping lanes on their side of the borders, sightings are mostly at long range according too reports, they don't seem interested in most of the freighter traffic in the area."

'No, they don't do they?' Bennett looked at the data presented on the map, 'let's hope it stays that way. They're becoming more reckless lately.' He sighed, 'thank you for your report, Lieutenant.' Bennett sat back in his chair. 'How are you finding the ship so far?'

Sensing a change of pace Jason stopped to think "While I've been a passenger aboard this class of ship when I've been attached too various missions, being a member of the crew has made it easier to settle in for me." Jason paused taking one final drink of the coffee "I'm hoping to get things more settled as we move forward, I did make a personnel request before we departed, my research assistant from Earth Jennifer O'dell, but her orders we're delayed so she'll catch up with us when we put into port later on."

Bennett nodded as he recalled, 'yes, the paperwork did cross my desk. A shame she couldn't have joined us sooner than New Haven. I'm sure she'll be an asset to the team. I'm glad you're settling in properly - this will be one of your first field assignments where you're in overall control correct?'

Jason paused in mid drink "I spent the majority of my time doing research or attending diplomatic functions, so being able to get out in the field so too speak." Jason held back yet another personal detail not knowing if the captain actually knew the whole truth. "Far as being in charge this is my first actual posting, I have led investigations but not much else."

'Yes, I read in your file about your time at Starfleet Headquarters,' Bennett smiled ruefully, 'you know, despite all my years in Starfleet Intelligence, I never did manage to get an assignment in the Tactical Analysis Division.' He carried on disarmingly, 'it must have been something to do with my drinking problem back then. You took a leave of absence before being assigned to Deep Space Three, didn't you?'

"It's not for everyone, you spend the majority your time looking at old battles, what is, was, and could be then try to figure out what scenarios these situations can predict in situations that could happen, might happen, or are about to." Pausing to let that fill the air for thoughts, "then there are times when I got to get out of the archive and look at other things including stuff I shouldn't talk about."

Bennett smiled in return, 'Lieutenant, my last posting was Tenth Fleet Headquarters Intelligence Hub, my security clearance should be sufficient for at least the bare bones, if you have time,' he indicated the empty mug, 'another coffee perhaps?'

"Sure" Jason paused knowing the captains clearances would be sufficient so he spoke, "there are deliberate deletions from my personnel file for a reason, it surrounds my wife's murder."

Remaining impassive, Bennett replicated another coffee for the Intelligence Officer, and a fruit juice for himself. Too much caffeine never really agreed with him. He set the mug in front of Elliott and sat down. 'I see,' Bennett played with the wedding band on his finger. 'I'm sorry for your loss, Lieutenant. Losing a family member, someone you love ... it's an unfathomable grief.'

"There was evidence that I was the target, but the local police just wrote it off, I sold the house and took a reassignment." Jason said as he raised the coffee.

[To be continued ...]

::OFF::

Lieutenant Commander Curzon Bennett
Commanding Officer
USS Oberon

Lieutenant Jason Elliot
Chief Intelligence officer
USS Oberon