Cross Checking

Posted on 23 Mar 2023 @ 2:09am by Lieutenant Commander Theodore Marsh III & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale

896 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Milk Run
Location: Operations
Timeline: Mission Day 1 at 0000

After the Black Hawk went to warp at a crawl with the convoy alongside them, the Chief of Security headed over to Commander Marsh. She didn't know much about him, but she wasn't here to learn about him at the moment; that would come in time.

"Thank you for your offer, Commander Marsh," she said. "I'm Commander Di Pasquale, and I've been with Captain Geisler for the past two years as the Chief of Security."

"Nice to meet you, Commander," he replied, while turning towards the Security Chief. "The Captain had mentioned that you were one of the few people who was a carry over. I might have to pick your brain a bit later. I'm curious about some of the stories floating around the fleet about this ship. That, of course, is a topic for another day though."

"Agreed," the ombre haired woman responded. "Myself, Lieutenant Ryler and fifty-something others. However, we need to go over the manifests of five ships and one uncooperative Zakdorn captain is likely to give us grief over everything we find. So let's break out the fine tooth combs and start scouring what she sent us and then the scans. Which ships do you want?"

"I can take whatever ships you'd like; I'm here to help. I can free up enough staff to handle at least two of the ships in short order. If you don't have a preference, "Then why don't I take two of the Apollos to start?"

"That sounds good, Commander," Camila said. "I'll transfer over a list of prohibited items and a detailed scan from my department of the Apollos and my department will tackle the Oberths and other Apollo."

Marsh nodded. After her earlier bovine outburst, Teddy had been unsure of what to expect. He appreciated her directness and desire to get right down to business. "I'll get my folks on this immediately and let you know as soon as they're done."

"I'll see you then, Commander," she said with a nod. "Thank you, again."

Teddy nodded back. "Happy to help. We are a team, after all." He picked up his PADD and tucked it under his arm as he stood. "I'll go meet with my people. Let you know if we find anything suspect."

=====

On his way to the Operations complex, Marsh contacted several of his data techs and had them report to his office. The timing worked out perfectly, with the Chief Operations Officer arriving within seconds of the techs.

"Take a seat," he said, motioning in the general direction of the cluster of small workspaces in the room. "We're assisting Security with performing a thorough review of the contents of those convoy ships. The three of you will review the manifests and some detailed scans of two Apollo-class ships. You need to verify that the items listed on the manifest are, in fact, what's on those ships by comparing them to the scans our Intelligence Officer took. You're looking for anything that doesn't match up. Note anything that is 'off'. Anything that registers as a restricted item needs to be immediately brought to the attention of myself and Commander Di Pasquale. You have no more than three hours. Faster is better, provided the quality of your work doesn't suffer. Any questions?"

No one said anything.

"Great. Here are the files," Marsh said, tapping a short sequence on his PADD, transmitting the data to the workstations.

=====

After three hours and four ships, Camila hadn't found anything more than was on the manifest offered by the captain of the convoy. She and her team had scoured everything short of being on the other ships and physically examining things. Which is where anything not on the manifest could be, she mused as she tapped her combadge.

=^=Di Pasquale to Marsh. Have you turned up anything?" =^=

"Excellent timing, Commander," Teddy answered. "I just finished my own review of my team's work. Everything checks out. A lot of medical supplies in various forms: equipment, pharmaceuticals, some chemicals commonly used in the compounding of pharmaceuticals. Nothing that shows up as dangerous or restricted."

"Security reports the same, Commander," Camila responded. "Everything looks like what it's supposed to be and on the manifest."

"It would appear that everything is on the up and up then. Given some of what I've heard about this ship though, that seems suspicious. Or maybe I'm overthinking it."

"You aren't," came the Security Chiefs cynicism. "However, we've done what we set out to do and nothing over there is on this ship. We could use some of those supplies, though." Was that a subtle jab at the Ops Chief at the lack of all supplies on their ship or just wishful thinking on her part?"

Marsh chuckled. "They are carrying some things that we need. I'm not sure if we'd be able to convince them to make a trade, but I'm willing to give it a go. Think the Captain would be game?"

"Run it by him, Commander. It's actually a good idea," Camila said. "Send me your results and I'll compile and send them to the Captain."

"You'll have them shortly. Then I'll head back to the Bridge. See you there?"

"Di Pasquale, out."

Teddy, alone in his office, doubled over in laughter. "She's a tough nut, Teddy. A real tough nut," he said aloud to himself.

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