The Razmena Debriefing

Posted on 23 Aug 2024 @ 11:53am by Commodore (Brevet) Harvey Geisler & Commander John Reynolds & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant Commander Kennedy Monroe M.D. & Lieutenant T’Mari Rael

3,132 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Shattered Unity
Location: Captain's Mess
Timeline: June 20, 2390 || 1130 hours

Commodore Geisler nodded to the Bolian chef who had just finished setting the table. Neither man spoke about what had happened in the room yesterday, even though it was absolutely certain that the Bolian knew what had happened. The chef had served with Harvey since taking command of the first Black Hawk, and while he hadn't ever expected that sort of behavior from the ship's commanding officer, it only proved to him how human the Captain could be.

The chef departed the mess soon after the nod, leaving the Commodore to wait for those who had ventured to Razmena under cover arrived. Harvey took his glass of iced tea and moved over to the window to watch the warp streaks in the meantime.

Joey made her way into the Captain's Mess for the second day in a row. It seemed she was the first to arrive out of those invited. "Commodore," she greeted as she moved over to the beverage cart with a knowing smile to pour herself a cup of coffee.

Stepping into the room T’Mari offered a warm, if tired smile. “Commodore, Commander” walking over she picked herself up a glass of refreshing uttaberry juice, a berry native to Betazed, she quite liked it’s flavour.

Harvey hadn't a chance to reply to Joey when she greeted him. All he'd been able to do was turn and see her smile. "Commander," he greeted formally since they weren't alone. "Counselor."

It was a much more refreshed Camila who walked into the Captain's Mess after she had filed all of her reports and put the acting Chief of Security, Ensign Karn, on report as well for letting the pirate colonists go. It was yet one more thing that rang in her mind about the entire situation and she hadn't liked doing it. She gave a nod to the Commodore, Joey and the Counselor as she went to get a mug of Raktajino. It was the second time she had been in the Captain's Mess and she wondered what the invitation was actually about.

John wasn't quite as tired as he had been the last few days. There was so much to take into account with the sudden influx of people, the swarm of reports and requests, and, well, learning about Mojo. Since being en route to Gavara, he'd been able to grab some extra sleep time here and there. Today's lunch call to the Captain's Mess was a nice break, if not out of the ordinary for him.

He discovered that he wasn't the first to arrive as he walked in and headed to the beverage cart. "Ladies, Captain," he said as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

Joey looked toward Camila, then John, taking a sip of her coffee before she officially greeted them. "Commander Di Pasquale, Commander Reynolds."

"Commanders," Harvey greeted with a nod, still standing by the viewport. "I believe we're just waiting on Doctor Monroe. There's a padd at the table if you'd like to place your orders."

John walked over to the table and put his coffee cup down before picking up the padd to enter his order. An eight ounce ribeye steak on the rare side of medium, sauteed mushrooms, and grilled carrots with a chimichurri sprinkled over the top. Once everything came out, He would switch his coffee for iced tea.

"I don't think I've ever been on a ship or a station where the CO has had so many people at once in the Captain's Mess," he said picking up his coffee cup. "Thanks for the invite, Commodore."

Camila gave a nod to the Executive Officer, the Commodore and Joey. "Morning," she said with half a smile as she ordered a lobster risotto from the padd.

When John and Camila finished up with their orders, Joey took the opportunity to do hers next. She went the simple route opting for a club sandwich with a side of fries and a pickle spear on the side. Once that was entered, she moved aside to let whoever wanted to order next get to the padd.

T’Mari was next to order, deciding to have a Vulcan salad with Betazoid Uttaberry juice. Having tried it before she knew two complemented each other nicely.

Kennedy was exhausted. She was grateful for the change of pace and scenery, but a large part of her simply wanted to exchange a lunch break with the rest of the senior staff for her bed. Of course, she would never say as much and another part of her knew it was important to touch base and build connections with others. She just hoped a nap to be in her future. For now, she focused on ordering a large caffeinated beverage and A turkey club with a side of pasta salad. She had to remind herself she could eat some thing that wasn't finger food.

"Thank you all for coming," Harvey stated, approaching the table at last. He placed his tea at his seat and placed both hands on his chair. "It goes without saying that the last few weeks have been challenging. We started with a simple convoy run, then launching an investigation into this pirate threat and it has quickly escalated into something very dangerous. Right now, we have strong reason to believe that the pirates are not behind the destruction of the Gaittithe, Starbase Unity, and its support ships. However, we know that they are connected."

The Commodore took a moment before continuing. "For those that have been able to submit their reports, I have reviewed those. What we have is... well, I wouldn't call it conflicting information. I would just call it unclear. So, I thought we'd have lunch, share findings. For now, this is all we have to go on, and we need to determine not only if these pirates and this threat are closely tied, two separate situations, or if there's something else we haven't yet considered."

"We've reviewed the information we were able to retrieve from the Irvine and the Bamaass," Joey stated, pausing long enough to set her coffee cup on the table. "There wasn't anything worth noting, but it was always a long shot."

"Nothing?" Camila asked, looking at the Chief of Intelligence and her friend. "Not even from those bio neural gel packs or computer cores?"

Joey turned her attention to Camila. "Oh, there was plenty of information in the gel packs and computer cores. Just nothing in regards to the attacks. Perhaps, we should consider interviewing the surviving bridge crew? With everything going on, it's still unlikely those that survived would have been able to file reports."

"What bridge crews?" Harvey asked. "In all, two or three senior officers survived between one base and five ships. Each bridge was destroyed, and the casualties just so high. It's like there were meant to be no eye-witnesses."

“The question is why?” T’Mari looked towards Harvey. “Attackers usually want someone alive whose seen what they can do, to spread the word and make people fear them. It seems odd there’s no eye witnesses to spread the news.”

"No eyewitnesses allows for the ultimate degree of terror. Could the message be as simple as 'Don't mess with us'?" Kennedy asked.

"Starfleet's been operating out of Unity for at least five years," Harvey pointed out. "If someone wants us to not mess with them, it's awfully late to deliver that message." Sighing, he pulled his chair back and sat down. "We can speculate all we want, but I don't think dwelling on the attacks is going to tell us much. Let's start with what we do know. Reports indicate that the pirates and... the attackers are aligned somehow. Is that true?"

"The colonists that I talked to said they were being fed information on where they could find a cache," Camila said. "I followed them back to their home and I can assure you that it wasn't a pirate base. There were starving children, dry ground from lack of rain and people living in conditions that we can't imagine. They were using the stolen probes for weather satellite's."

"Satellites?" echoed Harvey. "I've heard of probes used in such a manner before, but usually be science or support vessels, not front-line vessels such as ours."

"Yes, Sir," Camila said. "That's what they said and the conditions on the ground matched those conditions."

The Captain sighed yet again, lowered his head and shaking it for a moment. Not a bit of this made sense. He tried to compose his thoughts enough to respond, only to be interrupted by the door opening. The chef and an orderly arrived, pushing a small antigrav cart with six plates on it. Both men understood their objective, deliver the meals as quickly and quietly as possible and withdraw without participating or disrupting the conversation.

Normally, Harvey would be more guarded about his comments, but there was still a lot to process here. "So what are you suggesting? That there's some form of altruism going on here?"

"There isn't enough information to go on," Camila said after the lobster risoto had been set in front of her. She ignored it for the moment. "They get fed locations of these...caches...and go to scavenge them for resources. It isn't piracy in their eyes since they aren't the ones doing it, but I have no idea who is behind it. I do, however, have their frequency to contact the colonists again."

John had taken it all of the conversation so far. "That corresponds with what I got on the ship," he said. "Probes as satellites, that is. I was part of a team that was removing industrial replicators to be used to feed people and provide basic necessities. After everyone came aboard, the one my group caught said they just the coordinates after an attack."

Harvey nodded, picking up part of his club sandwich. He took a bite, and used the lull to consider everything said thus far. "So, whoever we're dealing with doesn't really care for the Federation or Dominion, but is looking out for those smaller colonies in these sectors. I'm guessing we're not dealing with a conqueror then."

Joey pinched the bridge of her nose, her food remaining untouched. Her appetite was nonexistent. "In other words, we're left with more questions than answers."

"There's one way to find out for sure, but it might take more time than we have," Camila said. "I could go back undercover. They know me and trust me."

Harvey nodded as an acknowledgement of her suggestion. He took another bite of his sandwich to consider the option.

T’Mari was listening but didn’t really have much else to add. “We’re going to need something to go or we’ll just fumbling around the dark.” She picked up her drink and sipped it.

"Sadly, we're already fumbling in the dark," Harvey remarked. "Doctor? Counselor? What about your experiences on Razmena? Did either of you learn anything that can be added into the mix here?"

T’Mari looked towards Harvey. “The woman I spoke with on the station told me that cargo is the most precious thing around here, food, medical supplies, practically anything that it’s in short supply here is fair game for the pirates. We communicated telepathically she was only too happy to talk to someone that way, it seems telepaths are few and far between here, at least those willing to communicate that way.”

"The woman I spoke with warned me about the Paradans and their cloning technology. Apparently, their clones don't remain intact for more than a few days, but that's enough time to sew a lot of chaos," Kennedy replied.

"That definitely confirms at least three parties," Harvey remarked. "The unknown attackers, the pirates, and those who trade goods and services from the pirates." He took a bite of his club sandwich and continued, "It's been no secret for a while that making a life in these sectors is a difficult one. Unity was our furthest footprint, and now that that's gone, Gavara's the furthest edge. Our colony there has been struggling for years, and we've seen firsthand the attempts to siphon supplies away from it. It's one of the reasons I've had the entire task group gather there. I anticipate it becoming the next target."

“Let’s just hope your hunch is right Sir” T’Mari offered a brief smile.

Joey looked from T'Mari and Kennedy, then back to Harvey. "If the Paradans are involved in some way, then anyone could be compromised. What happened with Unity could have easily been an inside job, but we would never know that for sure given the number of casualties." She paused for a moment, wondering if anyone would take her rambling thoughts seriously. "Think about it. If their clones only last for a few days, then why not sacrifice them to do your bidding?"

Harvey frowned. "Just what we need, more infiltrators in Starfleet. Doctor Monroe, Commander Di Pasquale, what do we know about Paradan cloning techniques. Is there a way to screen for clones and filter them out? It stands to reason though, that if there are clones in use, they're only a piece of the puzzle. They can't conduct these attacks on their own."

"What if we ran everyone through the transporters, Commodore?" Camila suggested. "Medical could check for signs of cellular degradation and compare them to earlier transports."

"That's assuming we have a transport record for everyone," Harvey observed. He liked the idea, especially since it gave them all a reason to rule something out. "We could start with ourselves," he suggested, "give the crew a reason to be confident in the task. But I have to ask, how long would it realistically take to process everyone? Our own crew is barely five hundred, and we are carrying an extra four hundred souls right now."

Camila pulled up the transporter rooms and evacuation transporters and did some math and logistics. "Realistically, about five hours," she said. "Getting everyone to their assigned transporters at a specific time will be the time consuming part. If everyone lined up and was ready, a minute per, we'd have it done in thirty minutes. " She looked at Kennedy. "How long would it take Medical to scan all the records?"

"I think I could create a program to help the medical staff and the computer know what to look for so that scanning could be done in a matter of hours. If the clones aren't lasting very long, I would think science of degradation would be fairly easy to spot, but I hesitate to make any assumptions. Obviously, it's going to be important to be careful but also thorough "

"I'm willing to go first to if it will help others be more comfortable with getting scanned," Joey offered.

"We might keep in mind that if someone doesn't show up, they could be the culprit," said John.

"In which case, we'll be depending on Security to track them down," Harvey remarked, even though he was stating the obvious. He'd already heard reports of unhinged personnel causing havoc across the ship, including one particular standoff in the holodeck and several cabin break-ins. "Which reminds me, Commander di Pasquale, you've done an excellent job keeping the vital areas of the ship secure. In addition to having the command crew cycle through the transporters first, I'd like to get your team screened first."

"Thank you, Commodore," Camila said, still not used to addressing him by that rank. "There's been a few instances of trouble, but we've managed to keep it down. The drones patrolling the corridors seem to be keeping everyone calm. I'll arrange screening for Security immediately."

"Excellent," Harvey confirmed. He took another bite of his sandwich, and when it was gone he spoke again. "Let's review. There are at least three elements here. We have pirates who are sympathetic to plights happening throughout these sectors and are doing their best to help the natives. Then we also have a different pirates who are just looking to make a name or a living for themselves, all the while happy to act as a third party. Finally, we have a mysterious benefactor, someone feeding the pirates information... and who also happens to overwhelm Starfleet defenses in a swift and calculating manner.

"All the while, we have no clues about our benefactor other than they strike hard, strike fast, possess minute precision, and leave evidence of polaron weapon signatures. Did I miss anything?"

"That sounds about right," Joey said. All this information, and yet, they were no closer to finding out who was actually behind the attacks.

“It would have to be someone with either a grudge against Starfleet, or who has something to gain from all this, but we’re no closer to discovering who that is.”

"Unfortunately, that seems to be all," Camila agreed. She noted that her offer to go undercover had been ignored, but it had been all she had to offer other than transporter screening for possible clones.

Kennedy quietly listened as the discussion seemed to wind down, her mind already racing with the task she had before her. It was going to be critically important that she develop protocols for scanning the crew that wereboth efficient and thorough. Like so much in medicine, there would be little room for error. Monroe also didn't disagree with reluctance to be scanned representing cause for suspicion, but another possibility was simple fear. Yes, they were Starfleet personnel who were accustomed to interacting with transporters regularly, but being transported and being held in the device's buffers, even momentarily for scanning purposes, was not exactly routine. Besides coming up with protocols for what to look for, she also made a mental note to figure out the best way to disseminate what they would be looking for to the rest of the crew. After all, informed consent was still important, even if what she was doing wasn't strictly for treatment purposes.

Harvey finished the last bits of his sandwich and placed the last remains of the outer crust on his plate. His eyes scanned those around the table, looking for any signs that someone might have something else to add. Seeing none, he wiped his mouth and chin with his napkin and placed it on top of his plate. "Well, we seem none the wiser even though our trip to Razmena bore some fruit. I'll go mull over your findings for now, and I'm sure after we get to Gavara and redeploy Belvedere we'll circle back to some of this. Thank you all. Enjoy the rest of your lunch and I'll see you on the bridge."

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