No News Is Bad News

Posted on 21 Jul 2017 @ 1:46pm by Lieutenant David Moreau Jr & Commodore Harvey Geisler

1,081 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: The Finnean Crisis
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: MD 5 || 1900 Hours

Once he and Metsker had finished questioning Carmichael, David headed back to the bridge. He had more questions than answers, but hopefully the questioning of the Science officer would provide some answers. Once he was on the bridge, he saw the Captain in the center chair and approached him. "I just finished with Carmichael, Sir," he said. "He had a few things to say."

Harvey wondered why he was suddenly filled with a fair amount of dread. Hopefully, the Lieutenant had something worthy to share. He gestured for the Chief of Security to follow him into the Ready Room.

David nodded and headed into the Ready Room and waited for the Captain with his hands behind his back in formal at ease position. "I don't think you're going to like this, Captain," he said.

The Captain was certain that he wouldn't, but then again, what had happened today that he liked? Between a rogue Ferengi shuttle, having to negotiate with four different species, examine over one thousand crew, find a missing probe, and keep everyone from shooting each other, what could be added to the list. Harvey moved straight for the replicator to request a tall mug filled with coffee. "Anything to drink?" he asked as a courtesy.

"Black coffee, please," David said. "I would ask for sweetener with it, but I'm afraid it would go sour with what I have for you."

A few moments later, after the replicator had completed its assigned task, Harvey handed David a stainless steel mug emblazoned with the the Starfleet Delta. "Well, out with it, Lieutenant," he said before turning to sit behind the desk.

David took the coffee and cleared his throat. "Lieutenant Carmichael said that only he, Ensign Akagi and Captain Stryk heard the message and knew about the probe," he said. "He was shocked to learn of Akagi's suicide and that the Captain often shared information with Commander Yuki. He also heard the Selubassari talking about a dig on the planet and that there are parts of the probe which matched some older subsurface scans on the planet."

Harvey had barely taken a drink when the Lieutenant began to unload. "You're right, I don't like it." Harvey took another drink, and allowed his mind to process the new... well, lack of... information. "Doesn't give us anything new, but it does tell us that these matters are undoubtedly connected."

"I reviewed the Security footage taken from the Vasco de Gama after that," David continued. "Ensign Akagi was clearly helping the Selubassari. It looked like they took the internal components of the probe and beamed them off the ship..and then Akagi stabbed himself multiple times and wrote that symbol on the wall. Commander Yuki also seemed to be assisting the Selubassari."

Harvey grunted, liking that news even less. "So we have two personnel who have committed treason," he remarked. "One of whom is already dead, and another who's missing. And, we're no closer to finding what we came for."

"Given the fact that each item has a unique quantum signature and the Selubassari are digging on the planet for something taking from older subspace scans, couldn't we use the same scans to check for a matching signature from the remains of the probe we took from the Vasco de Gama?" David asked.

"In theory," Harvey replied. "We do know that the Selubassari have a lot of shielding near their dig sites. If we couldn't penetrate it before, then we're certainly not going to be able to do it looking for quantum signa..." Harvey paused suddenly and looked up at David. "Older subspace scans?"

David had been in the middle of taking a drink of his coffee when he heard the Captain's last question. "Sorry, Sir," he said. "I mean subsurface scans like Carmichael had told me. Is the away team going to those areas?"

Subsurface scans made more sense. Even with a world as rich as Finnea Prime, resources were limited. And so were the Selubassari's. Harvey knew that there wouldn't be any phony sites, and that each one was chosen carefully. "They will," Harvey said. "Without a clue of which one to head for, all we can do is investigate where our missing personnel are. Would Lieutenant Carmichael have any idea at all?"

"No, Sir," David said. "He would have the information needed for the particular subspace variance of the probe, though. It should be relatively easy to find the area it's in and if we did the subsurface scans of those areas, we'd have a better idea than the Selubassari would. It's our probe, after all."

And still sitting in our probe storage, thought Harvey, considering the version that hadn't yet been launched. He could only fear the circumstances that would force him to send it. Damn predestination paradoxes. He wished he could call this off, but what degree of danger awaited the Federation? What degree of danger would cause Harvey to tell himself not to trust anyone, or could be headed off before crossing the barrier? The probe was only the first answer in a long list of questions. "How much of a better idea?" he asked.

"We could get within a few hundred miles," David said after a moment. "We can localize it around the dig sites to help us narrow the area down."

It wasn't much, but it was at least something. A dim light in an otherwise dark world. "Make it so," he ordered. "Is there anything else?"

David finished his coffee and set the mug down. "I'd like to go down with the away team. They're likely to encounter resistance and I'm good with dealing with resistance."

"That's up to Commander Teixeira," Harvey replied after a moment. "But I'll be reviewing the team members with him in a little while. I'm sure he won't be heading down without protection."

"Then I'd like to be strongly considered," David said. "I have the experience for situations like that out of everyone in Security."

Harvey considered his words for a moment. Though Harvey had yet to fully trust the man, he knew that he had to put the ship, crew, and planet above his personal uncertainty. "I'll be sure that you are, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, Sir," David said. "When I find out more, I'll contact you."

Harvey nodded. "Thank you, Lieutenant." With that, he brought his mug up to his mouth for another sip.

David nodded and headed out.

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