Arrival at Razmena

Posted on 30 Oct 2016 @ 2:47pm by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Commander Terry Walsh & Commander Jayla Kij & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Lieutenant Elizabeth Marion & Lieutenant JG Felix Langston & Lieutenant JG Catherine Cooper

3,076 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Click Three Times
Location: Razmena
Timeline: MD 10 || 1800 hours

Harvey was surprised how quickly the last four hours passed. Even at maximum warp, there was little to do for anyone aboard the runabout, save for Felix and Elizabeth. For the rest of them, it meant reading up on the species they might encounter aboard Razmena; Karemma, Dosi, Hunters, Ennis, Argathi, and so many more.

The reality was that they didn't know what to expect. It was certainly daunting, but they would all have to collectively look past that in order to get what they needed. And now that they were minutes away from dropping out of warp, it was time to finish the details.

"We're going to split up into three groups," Harvey told the assembled group of ten. "Corwin. Miller. Guiterrez, you're with me. Tanika, Kij, Thatcher, you're with Marion. Hollingsworth and Langston, you're both going to cover the runabout. Not only do we need to protect it from wandering eyes, but we need to keep it ready for an emergency departure, should that be necessary."

"Aye, Ca...Harvey," Ricardo said, definitely not used to calling a commanding officer by their first name. Even in Security, he didn't call Corwin or Di Pasquale by their names, but this was a mission where they weren't Starfleet. He checked his .45 caliber that he had chosen for the mission and the extra clips of ammo, then gave a nod. "All ready."

Shep gave a nod. "She'll be safe, Harvey," he said, giving a smirk at Ricardo's uncomfortable response and enjoying the ability to toss ranks out the window.

The four hours on the runabout weren't wasted for Joey. She'd spent every last second studying up on who they might encounter while on the station. She looked for things most people may not have. Weaknesses, the types of weapons they might use against them and anything else her trained mind might think to search for. Sadly, there wasn't enough information on those subjects as she would have liked, but maybe there was enough to get them all out safely. Then again... there weren't many individuals that could survive a well placed bullet. It was her hope that it wouldn't have to come to that. She wanted things to go smoothly... for them to take the goods they had to offer in exchange for the information they needed to get their people back.

Could the Black Hawk crew really be that lucky? Considering the way things had gone for them over the last four days or so, she didn't think so, but there was nothing wrong with being positive. It was all she had at the moment, and Joey wasn't going to let herself lose it now. The Lieutenant looked toward her Security officers. "Remember your training. Hollingsworth... you're pulling double duty by staying with Felix and the runabout. I know you've got this," she said.

"It'll be fine," Shep assured her. "I'm Tactical as well as Security. Nothing is going to happen while you and the team is gone."

Thatcher moved to stand near Lt. Marion, after checking her own gear. She'd spent the time researching what they knew of where they were going. Most especially maps and whatever scraps of intel they could find on technology, factions on the station. Thatcher was a born researcher and felt if one had enough information of the right sort they were less likely to get stomped. And she shared related parts of the intel with Doctor Kij, who seemed of all the crew on this mission to be the most unsure.

Allen checked his gear one last time and took up position near his commanding officer. It was going to be hard enough to refer to the Ensign and Lieutenant by their first names, but the Captain...Harvey...worse. He had been going over the schematics of the station more than anything. He wanted to know not only escape routes, but where potential enemies could come from. "All set...Harvey."

Lt. Marion raised a slight eyebrow at the Captain's decision to place her in charge of the second team. Out of the four of them, she wasn't the senior officer. She looked over at Jayla for a moment and took notice of her apprehensive posture and began to formulate a possible reason behind the call. Regardless of the circumstances, Liz knew somewhere in the back of her mind that she would make the best of it and try to live up to whatever expectations were being placed on her. Marion moved into place with her slightly smaller group and gave each of them a look over to make sure they had what they needed where it might best be used.

Jayla was feeling a bit wild-eyed at the prospect of going out into the unknown to find information. Goodness, she didn't even know what information they needed specifically. The information Thatcher had shared with her would be helpful, but she felt like it was time to call on her thespian experience from her academy days. Silently, she closed her eyes, took a couple of deep breaths and came up with a persona to adopt. When she opened her eyes, there was danger in them and her full lips were set into as thin a line as she could manage. Her posture, which had only moments before joined with her fearful expression to create tension and unease now combined with the daggers in her glare to give the impression of a cat about to pounce. She could do this. After all, it wouldn't be the first time she'd bluffed her way through a terrifying situation.

Felix nodded upon hearing that he would stay put nearby the runabout with Shep. Makes sense, he thought, who knows if we'll have to make a hasty getaway? He continued maintaining the course to Razmena while listening intently to see if he needed to pick up any additional information.

"Our goal is to acquire as much information as possible," Harvey continued. "Especially about the Confederation. Record everything. Get maps, star charts, political information, and whatever else you can get. We'll disseminate everything we can over the next couple of days. The Confederation is bound to have enemies, so let's figure out who they are. Maybe we can buy temporary allies. Take plenty of samples of what we have to offer. But, don't give anything out for free."

Joey had a feeling things were about to get interesting, and all any of them could do was to mentally prepare themselves in the event things went south. As she moved to stand next to Harvey and the group she was to be a part of, she found herself wondering if he would offer himself up for any of the things he'd just mentioned. If he did, the Lieutenant would be quite angry both professionally and personally. "Then the only thing left to do is split up and see what each group can come up with."

"Happy hunting," Liz said with a smile before turning to her team, "Everyone good?"

"Aye Lt..Elizabeth...Elizabeth..." Sarah repeated more to remind herself than speaking to Marion.

Jayla jerked her chin to indicate that she was ready; she was afraid that if she opened her mouth to speak, her voice might shake and ruin the act she'd set herself to. Oh, she'd be able to talk eventually, but first, she had to solidify herself in the roll. Jayla, the genetic mutant. No! Jayla, the genetically modified super-soldier. That was ridiculous! She nearly grinned at the silly thought, but managed to turn it into a deadly smirk at the last second.

Standing from his seat to allow someone else to sit in it for now, Harvey moved towards the helm. "What's our, ETA, Felix?"

"Looks like we're a couple minutes out," Felix replied. "I have us dropping out of warp within range to ask for docking clearance."

Harvey nodded. The time had come. "Let's drop out of warp. Shields up."

"Shields up," Shep said as the Mississippi came out of warp. He looked over at Felix and gave a shrug.

"Disengaging warp drive," Felix said as his hands moved across his console and pressed the all-too-familiar sequence of keystrokes. He nodded slightly at Shep and turned his gaze back toward the front of the craft. He felt his jaw tighten as the Mississippi dropped out of warp and the destination appeared in view.

As the star streaks faded away, the cockpit was filled with an eerie blue glow, something he hadn't seen for several months. In front of them was just what he hoped, the space station called Razmena. Just as before, the station showed little signs of care. Rust, grime, debris and more floated around the massive station. What caught Harvey's attention were the myriad assortment of starships in the station's vicinity. None of them matched the configuration of what they'd experienced just a few days before.

But if any of them were Confederation... he had no way of knowing. There did seem to be a design or two he recognized, but only from fringe areas. "What do we see?" Harvey asked, hoping someone was manning the sensors.

"Si...the station is huge, Harvey," Shep said as he checked the sensors. "There's thousands of lifesigns on it. I'm picking up Argrathi, Dosi, Karemma, Hunters, Ennis and others that aren't registering." He continued his scan. "There's several starships our size, some Intrepid and Saber class sizes. It's big enough to swallow the Black Hawk in one of it's hangars."

"Maybe we should have brought her here for the full repair," Harvey mumbled. Even he knew that was a stupid idea and hoped no one would take the notion further. At least by now, the ship would be well into, and hopefully done, with its computer rebuild. "Hail the station. Let's ask for docking permission."

Thatcher half wished they could have brought the ship here. It was one thing to study schematics and other details on computer, quite another to see the size up close and personal. They had to keep this quiet, ten people could not take on thousands. Though in Thatcher's private opinion, Stafleet experience gave them a better edge than most. She leaned over to Lt. Marion, her immediate superior on her part of the away team, and quietly asked, "Is there a plan for meeting up later or if the comms don't work?" She was concerned about something happening in the mammoth station and back up not being able to get there in time.

Liz gave the matter a moment of thought before responding, "That's a good question... Usually the best things to do when you're on a mission like this one is to head back to the shuttle if you've been cut off, communication wise. Pretty certain that's just standard procedure... or at least it was on my last ship. As far as a meeting point... We'll probably decide that once we're actually inside the station."

Thatcher nodded, "That seems wise." She said glad to have a plan, she rather liked having plans even if sometimes the needs of the mission threw them out the window.

When she overheard the Captain order the station hailed, Liz returned to her console and began the process of hailing the massive installation. Because they weren't using the standard frequencies that Starfleet was used to, Marion had to scan the active bands until she found what appeared to be the docking control frequency. She composed a short and nondescript docking request message and sent it through.

"Docking request has been made," the Operations officer announced, "It looks like they're thinking about it."

"Fly casual..." Thatcher muttered, mild joke her voice, hoping they would get the permission.

Harvey couldn't blame them. There wouldn't be a soul on that station that would have any experience with humans, Betazoids or Trill. An alarm from the nearby console told Harvey that they were scanning the Mississippi. The speakers cracked and a disembodied voice echoed in the cockpit. "Cargo Vessel Mississippi, what is your business here?"

"Peddling wares and restocking," Harvey quickly replied.

More silence was the response. After what seemed like an eternity, a response came. "Cargo vessel, you are cleared to use Hangar Thirty Two. Docking Fee will be a thousand credits or a percentage of your profits. Please see the dockmaster as soon as you arrive. Razmena out."

"Mister Langston," Harvey said, his old habits taking control here. "Find Hangar 32."

"Aye," Felix said, "taking her in." Felix's hands moved deftly over the console as the Mississippi gently glided to Hangar 32. Felix felt his pace quickening, but did his best to keep his cool.

As soon as the runabout had touched down, Harvey found himself moving towards the side exit door first, only to be blocked by a particular woman. So much for his attempt to be the first one off of the runabout.

Joey looked over at him from the arm she'd raised in front of him to halt his departure further. Sure, he may have been the Captain of the Black Hawk, but it was her duty to protect him as the acting Chief of Security... not to mention her personal vested interest in keeping him safe. "Going somewhere, Harvey?" she asked, turning her gaze to him as if to dare him to try to move past her arm.

Harvey looked down at her arm, then up at the closed hatch, and then met her gaze. "I am," he told her, not in a tone of defiance, but rather a tone of certainty. He nodded at the closed hatch. "That way, in fact. Unless... you have a better idea."

"I do have a better idea, and you even get what you want," Lieutenant Corwin said. They had no clue what kind of welcoming committee would be awaiting them on the other side, for his safety... and the safety of everyone else on the Mississippi... her going first just made sense. She lowered her arm to open the hatch. "You'll go that way... after I do." And, just so he couldn't argue with her, when the hatch was completely open, she stepped off of the runabout and into the hangar, fully prepared to deal with any hostility that might come their way.

Fortunately, no hostility awaited them. The hangar wasn't that big, just large enough for the runabout and a couple small shuttle pods. A Teplan awaited at a nearby station, clothed in a dirtied midnight blue, all official-looking. More than likely, she was a staff member aboard the station. She made no effort to approach the runabout, but she was doing what she could to study the alien craft from her station.

Joey looked at the Teplan woman and studied her for a few seconds before she turned back to the open hatch where she knew Harvey was waiting... possibly impatiently, but it was for his own good even if he didn't want to see it that way. "I'm satisfied. You can come this way now."

Harvey exited the runabout and absorbed his surroundings, spotting a large display screen with a map near the hangar airlock. Upon close examination, Harvey noted that they weren't far from a mercantile area with several shops, bars and eateries. "We'll head here," he told the group. "Elizabeth, take your team this direction," he told her, pointing towards the opposite side of the map. "We'll meet at the Ennis Restaurant here in two hours."

"You got it," Marion nodded to the Captain before moving to join her team and make one or two last minute adjustments to her gear.

Joey looked to the display and committed as much of it to memory, but focused more on escape routes in the event they needed to get away quickly. She took a deep, calming breath and prepared herself for their current task at hand. Their team, and Harvey, would be safe considering he was surrounded by Security, but she found herself hoping no one cared that she was the only female in their group. That could either work in their favor, or work against them. Her hope was the first one. If need be, maybe she could convince others this was her harem. Time and circumstances would tell.

"Well, we shouldn't all leave together," he told the group. "My team, with me. Marion's team, wait about two minutes and then follow us. Felix, don't leave the ship." With a nod, he began walking towards the exit.

Shep stayed in the runabout with the pilot and checked to make sure that he had a solid transporter lock on all the members of the away team, then nodded and sat back.

Lt. Marion watched the team leave silently, her mind already rushing to formulate a good cover story for who they were and why they wanted what they wanted from trade deals. She wondered silently if paying more attention to some of her father's stories might have yielded more readily believable falsities than the ones she was coming up with...

Joey moved with Harvey. It was time, and she was a touch nervous because of the unexpected. With her training, though, she began to mentally prepare herself for the possibility of anything happened, but even she couldn't be prepared for everything. As long as they got a few leads that could help them rescue their people, then they'd accomplish what they set out to do. She cast a glance at Thatcher over her shoulder, hoping the young woman would do her part to keep everyone safe without going overboard.

Ricardo stepped out of the runabout on the other side of the Captain and scanned the area with his empathy while seeming to rubberneck like a tourist, the Teplan the main source of his scrutiny as if he had never seen a member of her species before.

Allen took up the rear of the group, keeping an eye on the flanks. This was nothing like any station he'd ever seen before. But then, they were in a different universe where no one had seen a human before. He knew their relatively pink flesh would stand out. Which is why he immediately started scanning for the escape routes and obscure places that he was studying earlier.

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