Convoy at Idran

Posted on 26 Jan 2023 @ 11:16am by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Lieutenant JG Kemm & Commander John Reynolds & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant Commander Theodore Marsh III & Lieutenant Commander Kennedy Monroe M.D. & Lieutenant Zayna Ryler & Lieutenant T’Mari Rael & Lieutenant Michael Kenmore

2,387 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Milk Run
Location: Main Bridge
Timeline: Mission Day 1 at 1500

The convoy was two hours overdue.

If he hadn't been already, Harvey would have been pissed off. Instead, his frustration was left to grow each minute. He knew supplies were short all across the quadrant, a fact further impeded by piracy and other attrition throughout operational areas.

But this was almost uncalled for.

Harvey paced the bridge while his ship sat several kilometers away from the closed mouth of the Bajoran wormhole. Part of him wondered if the bridge crew had already started placing bets on the strength of the carpet and how long it would resist a worn path around the upper deck.

"Any updates from Deep Space Nine?" he asked aloud. The question was directed to no one in particular, and yet it was also directed at the first brave soul who dared to answer.

T’Mari was sitting to the left of the centre seat watching Geisler pacing back and forth like a cat on hot bricks. She wanted to tell him that his pacing might make people nervous, but here and now wasn’t the time. She would mention it in private if needs be.

Camila entered the bridge from the turbolift and hated it. She hated the layout. She hated the design. She hated the loss of the Century class and she hated the Akira class. She kept her expression neutral as she headed over to the Tactical station and being to run a check on it after configuring it to her preferred layout. With the convoy late, odds were good that they'd never show at all and that the pirates were already headed in other directions. Convoy duty for an absent convey. Yay, she mentally cheered with great sarcasm and bitterness.

Zayna had been mostly keeping her head down, running as distant scans as she could while they waited..and waited..and waited. But the scans never changed. She let out a heavy sigh and noticed that the captain had asked a question that no one was answering. Finally after all the silence, she turned. "Nothing I've heard, and sensors are quiet as a tomb."

"Nothing anomalous at the wormhole?" Harvey asked aloud, his tone heavy with his frustration. "And we're sure the comm relay is working?"

Joey stood at her designated area, her eyes locked on the screen in front of her. She hadn't taken the time to look over the new ship's bridge just yet, but there would be time for that soon enough. For now, her focus, and she was sure that of the majority of the bridge crews, was on the fact that that the convoy was late. Very late, in fact.

T’Mari looked at Geisler. “This is very odd, I’d have expected them to have let us know what was going on by now. Is it possible something might have happened? Maybe they haven’t been able to get out a distress call?”

"It's always possible," said John, in reply to the counselor. "Final frontier and all that." He turned to face the star-strewn viewscreen rather than watch the pacing Captain. "Ping the comm relay, Commander Marsh. Twice."

"Two pings only, Commander. Aye," Teddy replied. With a few quick movements of a finger, the Black Hawk's communications system made contact with the relay. Twice. "Let's see if we get a bite."

There was a flash of light that filled the viewscreen for a moment before it yielded to the familiar blue glow of the Bajoran wormhole. Harvey immediately turned to the screen and was unable to see the beauty he normally saw in the rich blues and purples of the swirling subspace vortex as those colors transformed to a bright golden-white in the center. Instead, his eyes were fixated on the center looking for what he expected to come through.

Harvey noted the familiar configuration of Apollo and Oberth ships. He noticed that they were followed by a couple small runabouts, and those immediately went on their own courses as soon as they cleared the mouth of the wormhole.

Until now, little information had been given to the Black Hawk about their charge, other than the size of the shipment would be five ships. In this case, he counted three Apollos and two Oberths. The total was five, but he was immediately concerned. Mixing Starfleet and civilian designs out here in the Gamma Quadrant with only one Akira-class to guard them... This would be one hell of a milk run.

Still, Harvey quickly muttered, "About damn time." He then turned to the Intelligence station where he hoped his wife could fill in some of the gaps.

Joey stood at her console and moved her fingers over the display. "Limited weapons. Oberth class... thirteen decks, standard crew complement of eighty... last used in 2380. It has a cruising speed of warp six, emergency warp of nine point six," she said. "Apollo class... sixteen decks, standard crew of three hundred... used from the 2320s through 2370. The Apollo class has an emergency warp six. It's a cow, Captain. Let's see if we can keep our calves together."

Camila had no idea what to expect, but hearing that last part broke something inside of her. "Moo," came from her lips. Not a loud one. No. That was reserved for what came next in the form of gales of laughter as the Security Chief doubled over her station and gasped for air with a moo or two thrown in for good measure.

T’Mari couldn’t help but grin at the moment’s humour of the situation, not that this milk run would be much fun if they were attacked by pirates. They couldn’t protect every ship and defend themselves if they came up against more than one pirate ship.

Watching the wormhole only for a moment, Zayna looked over at the sensors, more as double-checking there was nothing extra going on. Why were these the ships? It was going to be a long run, that was for sure.

Were the Captain not so already frustrated, he might have found the burst of levity inviting. For now, he just wanted to get the damn show on the road. “Joey, get a good scan of those ships. Work on it with Ryler and make sure we’ve got a good map for whatever reason we may need it later. Camila,” Harvey sighed as he at last returned to his seat. “Hail the convoy.”

The Security Chief regained control of herself and nodded. She touched the console in front of her and looked the Captain's way. "Hailing frequencies open, Captain." She said. She wanted to laugh again, but the look on his face told her that it would be a bad idea, even if it was funny and true. Babysitting antique cows.

While the others enjoyed the tactical officer's mooing, Teddy was wondering if any of those ships had supplies he could requisition.

The screen soon flickered, flashing the image of a female Zakdorn in civilian clothing. "I am Sirma, commander of the SS Kol'tao of the Clemda Merchant Association."

Harvey had not heard of the Association until that very morning when he had been briefed on the mission and the Black Hawk's role in this convoy run. Evidently, it was getting harder and harder to find merchants willing to ferry cargo to the outermost reaches of the Gamma Quadrant, and the process was becoming increasingly expensive. "Captain Harvey Geisler," he introduced himself, taking no care to adjust his demeanor or tone. "USS Black Hawk, your carrier escort to Gavara."

"Hmm," grunted the Zakdorn. "If I had known that Starfleet would be sending the demon ship of the Gamma Quadrant as my escort, I would tripled my price."

The Captain had to withhold his comment, a small and perhaps the only miracle for the day. "You're a couple hours behind schedule, Sirma. I was starting to wonder--"

Sirma waved her hand to quickly dismiss Geisler. "Yes, yes. Turns out your Starfleet made Apollos live up to their troublesome reputation. Should they cause any further delays, I will certainly be filing paperwork with your legal officer." She looked off screen and nodded.

Beeps sounded at multiple nearby consoles around Harvey as data was transmitted to the Black Hawk. "Cargo manifest, SDS documents, crew manifest, and other declarations your Gamma Command has required, and that your staff will undoubtedly want to review. If you're planning to invite me to dinner, don't. I have no patience for flattery or pleasantries. Maintain your station, keep my ships safe, and I'll be happy. I get paid extra for making it before the deadline, and as you pointed out, I'm already behind. Keep up... Black Demon."

The transmission ended, leaving the viewscreen to show the convoy preparing to warp out.

Marsh erupted. "She's a pleasant one, isn't she?" he said through his own laughter.

“Maybe So” T’Mari nodded. “But she meant every word of what she said.” She looked at Geisler. “Black demon huh?”

John shook his head; life on the Gamma frontier. And apparently on a ship that had, or was getting, a reputation. He quickly thought of his initial meeting with the Captain and his use of descriptors like hell, demonic, and torture. "Well, if that's the kind of reputation it takes to get the job done out here, I can't think of anything meaner or nastier. Maybe it'll make any marauders think twice. Anyway, let's make sure they don't leave us behind."

Camila looked at the flood of information sent over to the Black Hawk and gave a smile. "This is going to take about three hours to verify, Captain," she said in a neutral tone.

The Captain looked over to Camila. "Are you suggesting we wait here for three hours to verify all of that? Is there a way we can do it in transit?"

"There is, but the further we go from the wortmhole, the longer the delay will be," the Security Chief responded. "Or we can wave protocol and get on the move. I doubt the convoy captain would appreciate the wait. Sir."

"No, I can imagine she certainly would not," the Captain confirmed with a scoff. He took a moment to consider their options. "Frankly, the sooner we get this milk run over with, the sooner we can move on to another assignment. Work with whomever you need to get that manifest verified while we're on transit. Joey, look into this... Association. Learn all you can about these transports we're guarding and if there might be anyone we need to worry about. Everyone else... let's try and maintain our sanity."

Harvey looked ahead to the viewscreen where the convoy was already moving to a vector from which to begin their course. "We are truly herding cows, so let's point them in the right direction. Hail them again."

"Yes, Sir," Camila said. She didn't have to like it, but he outranked her by a long shot and all she had to do was follow orders. She sent the packets to her Security division to sort out and get the process started. She only hoped the delay wasn't as long as she suspected it would be, but at least they weren't going to be going at emergency warp or anywhere close to maximum warp.

Leaning over towards her console, Teddy addressed the Security Chief in a hushed voice. "My staff can assist with the manifests. If it would help, that is."

"That would be of great assistance, Commander," Camila said. "Thank you."

"The screen flashed, and the Zakdorn commander was back. "What is it, Starfleet Captain?"

"Captain Geisler," Harvey corrected. Before she could rebut, Harvey quickly added, "My Executive Officer will be transmitting you a modified flight plan. It has taken into account current anomalous and pirate activity in the area and will allow us to skirt past it. The distance is a bit more, but if your ships can maintain Warp 6.5, we'll be able to make your original agreement."

The Zakdorn frowned, deepening the already saggy lines on her face. "I have already taken these factors into account, Captain."

"I'm sure you have, Commander," Harvey said, waving his hand. "However, I have my own orders from command, and that's to make sure you arrive with your cargo intact by any means necessary. These are the means I must take, Commander Sirma. I'm sure you understand."

If Sirma's glare could kill, Harvey would have been dead the moment he'd started talking. Her mind made the necessary calcuations before finally relenting, "Very well, Captain. We await your flight plan."

Harvey offered a cheap smile. "Proceed bearing 0-5-4 mark 3-4-5 and engage Warp 6.5. We are making some last minute adjustments to the course and will transmit it shortly."

Sirma's only response was the blunt ending of the transmission.

The Captain sighed. "Reynolds, you've got 30 minutes to invent a course. Aside from wanting this mission done quick, I'm sure as hell not going to let this ship be a pushover. At least completely."

Zayna had sat and listened to everything, trying her best not to roll her eyes. But when the new flight plan came up, she glanced back over to her console and looked over things. "This is going to make things interesting," she mumbled.

"Right away, Captain," replied John. He immediately started working out a new course. Pirate activity was the name of the game lately in the quadrant. And apparently some people had failed to take that into account. "And no, not a pushover at all. We'll help them remember who we are."

"Helm," Harvey ordered. "Same coordinates. Engage at Warp 6.5."

The doors to the bridge parted as an out of breath Ferengi, with a pouch of personal belongings came on to the bridge. She came up to the command officer and held out a padd. "Sir. Sorry I am late. Senior Chief Layaska reporting for duty."

The Captain gave the Ferengi a single glance before accepting the padd. As the ship jumped to warp, the Captain took a moment to review the padd's contents. He then rose from the chair, tugged at his uniform jacket, and said, "With me, Senior Chief. The bridge is yours, Commander Reynolds."

"Yes sir." Layaska said with a nod and she followed the captain off of the bridge.

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