Command Crisis

Posted on 04 Jun 2024 @ 9:31pm by Admiral Zachary O'Connell & Commodore Harvey Geisler

1,754 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Shattered Unity
Location: Gamma Command
Timeline: June 19, 2390 || 0325 hours

"Admiral?"

Zach's eyes refused to move, having been caught in the middle of a REM cycle. He subconsciously moved his right arm across the bed, expecting to find his wife. It took longer than he cared to admit before he realized that the bed was empty. He sat up in surprise, remembering a moment later that of course Jill wouldn't be there. Captain O'Connell was out on patrol for the rest of the week, leaving their young toddler, Scott, in his care.

"Operations to Admiral O'Connell," came the voice over his combadge again.

Before he could pick up his badge, the door chime sounded.

Zach blinked twice as he yawned once more. Whoever was trying to get a hold of him wasn't wasting any time sending someone to his quarters. He listened for a moment and found himself thankful that Scott was still sleeping in the other room.

The Admiral rose from his bed, tapped his badge, and picked up his robe on the way to answer the door before it could chime again. "Go ahead, Commodore," he said into the badge just a few feet from the door.

"Sorry to bother you, Admiral," the Anuran commander of the starbase said as Zach tapped the control to open the door. Across the threshold stood the awfully short amphibian known as Commodore Virid Salire. He tapped his own badge to close the open channel and prevent feedback from looping through both speakers. "We've received word from Task Group Belvedere, sir. Unity is in distress."

Zach had been caught in mid-yawn. Instantly, a flood of adrenaline hit his cardiovascular system. "Unity?" he repeated. "How is that possible? System failure?"

Virid shook his head. "We don't have a lot of details yet. In fact, we haven't received the call itself, only word through the albatross."

The Admiral wished the curse of the Black Hawk wouldn't be uttered by those so close to them. He couldn't blame them though, especially since Geisler's reputation was so well known across the Gamma Quadrant. "Wake my senior staff. We need to be ready for Geisler's update. How far out is he?" Without waiting for the reply, the Admiral turned and headed for the bedroom.

"Ten minutes," confirmed the Commodore.

"Then the staff has ten minutes!" Zach called out just as the front door closed, leaving the Anuran alone in the corridor.


* * *

Ten minutes had turned into thirty. As Zachary paced around the situation table, he reviewed the only report they'd received from the Black Hawk which was just confirmation that they were en route. Two others from Belvedere had reported in, indicating that they would join the Black Hawk as quickly as possible.

But that had been it.

Total radio silence.

"Where is he?" Commander Ombretta del Carlo, O'Connell's chief of intelligence, muttered. She'd been the first to arrive in the situation room, her uniform jacket never zipped up. Even now, it remained unzipped and her hair pulled back into a haphazard bun behind her head.

"Think it's just a scare?" asked Doctor Tonnii, the Saurian commander of the Bashir Medical Center. He, too, wished he was still in bed, but his presence was required thanks to the confirmation of the distress call.

"No idea," commented Commodore Okokros Tri, the logistics chief. "This is Harvey Geisler we're talking about. Wherever he goes, destruction follows."

"Enough of that," Zachary snapped, turning to pace in the opposite direction. He'd never stopped them from remarking about Harvey's reputation before, but each person in the room knew he was one of their most capable officers in the field. "He's probably just--"

The comm system chimed, and Salire looked to the console. "Incoming transmission," he said, looking at the screen. "Code S-S-C-four-seven." He looked up to face the Admiral, who had stopped in his tracks. "It's Geisler."

All Zachary had to do was nod and Salire tapped the button to accept the transmission. On the opposite end of the table, a hologram flickered to life. The lower portion of the body was not rendered, only the torso, arms, and hands, all thanks to the room's ability to transform a 2D communication into a multi-dimensional projection.

"We're here, Captain," Ombretta stated, speaking for the group, at least for now. "What's your status?"

Harvey took in a deep breath and glanced around. Back aboard the Black Hawk, his own holographic terminal gave him a full projection of every occupant in the room. He'd known before making the call that there would be an audience, so this offered no surprise. "At 0302 hours this morning, we received a distress call from Starbase Unity. The transmission was garbled and interrupted, but it state that they were under attack. We arrived at 0324 hours and found that Starbase Unity, the Irvine, Holtrame, Bamaass, and Oakland had all been destroyed."

"My god..." Tonnii hissed.

"If only," muttered Tri, the Betazoid in charge of logistics.

"Survivors?" O'Connell asked, keeping the conversation focused.

"Yes," Harvey confirmed. "I'm unable to provide a count at this time. We just launched search and rescue efforts. There are pockets of survivors, but it will take time to gather them all. Perseus and Valcour will be joining the efforts within the hour."

Ombretta sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "What the hell is going on out there, Captain? There's nothing in any of Belvedere's intelligence reports that show anything like this was coming."

Harvey narrowed his eyes, displeased with the hidden accusation. "I wish I knew, Commander."

"You knew enough to call a yellow alert two days ago," countered the Intelligence Chief.

"Because we found the Gaittithe neutered, adrift, and infested with pirates," spat back Harvey. "Its senior staff dead and computer core ruined. Any chance of finding logs from the battle void at first sight."

Salire spoke up, "But you found polaron signatures."

Harvey turned his head to the amphibian and nodded, "True."

"I've already spoken with the Vorta ambassador," O'Connell interjected, speaking for the first time. "The Dominion denied any involvement with the Gaittithe."

Harvey chuckled. "You should ask him about this one, Admiral. There's more than just Starfleet in this wreckage. I've got a derelict Jem'hadar ship too."

That comment spurred a wave of mutters around the room. "Wait, wait," spoke the Doctor. "Are you saying that the Dominion's lying to us."

"That's not what he's saying at all," Zach said, only to be interrupted by Harvey confirming what the Admiral had spoke.

Harvey continued. "I have an away team over there now. Commander Reynolds is looking for survivors."

An uncomfortable silence took command of the debriefing. For a room filled with the top brass in the Gamma Quadrant, not a single person was sure what to do.

It was at least a minute before someone dared to speak. And that person was Harvey Geisler. "So far, all we know is that our outer-most rim is at risk. The Gaittithe was our furthest deployed ship, and Unity our furthest base. Either someone wants to clear the border for fun, or they're looking to destabilize our presence in order to move inward."

Ombretta nodded, waiting a moment before she said, "I certainly concur that we're being destabilized."

"And it couldn't be at a worse moment," Tri added. "Just two days ago, Starfleet cancelled resupply orders. We're only getting two new ships, both understaffed, and not too much more personnel and material."

"And with Unity gone, we don't have a command base on that edge of the quadrant," Ombretta confirmed.

"Captain," Admiral O'Connell said, leaning against the table and crossing his arms. "I've been hearing a lot of pushback on your yellow alert you called across Belvedere. Captain Holmes, in fact, has lodged a protest."

Harvey sighed, lowering and shaking his head. He looked up a moment later and said, "With all due respect, sir, Captain Holmes disagrees with everything. One would swear he's Tellarite under that British complexion."

That earned a couple chuckles in the room. Zachary didn't acknowledge the comment, even though part of him felt like he should. He'd already jumped to Harvey's aide once already, and it would only be fair to do that with other officers under his command. "I agree with your assessment as well, Captain. Whoever this is is trying to destabilize our command structure. We know they can overpower us alone or together. Our best chance is to do it together."

The Admiral looked over to Commodore Tri. "Recall Archimedes and Sonzwaphi and have them operate closer to home. Retask a couple of the heavy hitters to Belvedere. Doctor, see if we can get some medical aid to Belvedere as well. We'll have a bunch of displaced survivors we'll need to treat and get back into service.

Both men nodded in response.

"Captain," Zachary said, looking back at Harvey. "It's impossible to move forward without acknowledging a couple of things. Your reputation is well known, and you, Harvey, are a wild card. You and I... we've had our differences. But the fact is, you and your crew were essential in stopping the Consortium, and keeping that Dolmo-whats-it threat contained in the Finnean Convergence Zone. You are the most experienced officer on your end of the quadrant. So..." Zachary paused, sighing, and looking at the chronometer.

"Well, there's not much I can do from an official basis. But, I can, as of now, 0340 hours, grant you a battlefield commission of Commodore. I can't have politics tear Belvedere apart, not now. Get your Task Group regrouped at Gavara immediately. Leverage your team and get a plan. And then find whoever is doing it, and stop them. Do I make myself clear?"

Harvey had had a difficult time focusing on any of the speech at the moment he heard Commodore. He knew he'd have to process that later, when the time was right. But now... now he had to focus on the crisis. And crisis management was something he excelled quite well at. "Yes, Admiral," he confirmed.

"Good," Zachary acknowledged. "In the meantime, we'll see if we can drum up any intel with the Dominion. Keep me posted, Commodore. Gamma Command out."

Harvey's hologram disappeared, leaving the headquarters staff alone in the room. The Admiral turned to look at his small team and simply said, "You heard me. Go drum up some intel. We're not abandoning the Gamma Quadrant. Not on my watch."

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