Informing the Captain

Posted on 11 Dec 2016 @ 11:41pm by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale

1,183 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Click Three Times
Location: Auxiliary Control
Timeline: MD11 | 0600 Hours

Camila exited the interrogation room and had the computer transcribe everything that had been recorded in the room to a PADD as well as the spoken interrogation. Once it was complete, she paused to replicate a mug of Raktajino and took a sip as she headed out of Security and for the nearest turbolift before she realized that she had no idea where Captain Geisler might be at the moment. She suspected the makeshift bridge, but he may have gone back to his quarters which he was using as a ready room as well. She stopped and tapped her combadge. =^=Di Pasquale to Captain Geisler. I have information from the prisoner, Sir.=^=

Harvey was indeed on the bridge, nursing yet another cup of coffee. This time, however, he was standing near the science station, looking at their map of Starbase Unity, hoping to study it close enough in preparation for what was to come. He tapped his combadge and replied, "Excellent, Lieutenant. Join me on the bridge."

=^=On my way,=^= Camila said as she closed the channel and headed back down to the makeshift bridge in Engineering with the PADD in one hand and strong Klingon coffee in the other. When she got there, she approached the Captain.

"Sir," she said. "Do you want the information here or in private?"

Were his ready room directly attached to the bridge, he would have opted to head in there. Instead, he gestured for her to follow him to a quiet corner of the room. "What do you have, Lieutenant?" he asked her.

Camila went over to the corner with him. "Kr'ozzu said his father's base is in an asteroid field and uses weapons platforms armed with polaron beams and high-yield torpedoes platforms are strong enough to repel almost an entire fleet, as well as magnetic mines that are attracted to any metal that's not a Karemma hull. He also said he usually has one or two ships stationed within a light year or two."

Harvey blinked as a first response. He was certainly expecting something much more heavily guarded by ships and personnel, not so automatically. "Did he give any idea of how to disrupt those weapons platforms? Or maybe, by chance, do we know what those Confederation hulls were made from?"

Camila was chagrined that she had neglected to ask about the materials the hulls were made from and winced. "No, Sir," she said. "He said it had been years since he had last been there. However, I could have him brought here for further questioning as the materials the hulls are made of." The last sentence had been an admittance of her failure to find that detail out, and she waited for the reprimand.

The Captain shook his head. Though Delta shift was nearly over, Harvey still felt like he needed more sleep of his own. He could only assume his temporary Executive Officer felt the same. "The scans we took should be sufficient enough. Besides, if I were this guy, I'd only cooperate for so long." Harvey sighed. "Any ideas on how to disrupt the platforms?"

"He wants his freedom and a way to recoup his losses," Camila said. "I think he'll cooperate a lot for that. As for disrupting the platforms, I would suggest sending in unmanned shuttles to draw their fire, then target them with our own torpedoes. The shuttle's sensors could also detect the mines and attract them. We have spares from the Chimera."

"They're also not a renewable resource," Harvey countered. "We don't even know if the Cochrane is flyable, much less in one piece. We might need every craft we can get. What about probes? Can they be configured with a magnet of their own and draw out the mines?"

"That would require Operations and Engineering to sort that question out, Captain," Camila said. "It would only take Lieutenant Corwin a moment to find out what types of metals they use in their hulls, Sir. We can make him cooperate with truth serum."

He shook his head in reply. "No," he said. He had been willing for too long to go to extremes on this, but even he knew when his limits were up. "Let's look at the scans first. If anything, we can drop out of warp a few thousand kilometers from the perimeter of the asteroid field and perform some scans."

"Then I'll contact Operations and Engineering and find out about the probes, Sir," she said as she kicked herself for not getting the information. "We also have the class nine probes that we sent out before we went to Razmena station. One was heading in that direction and should have some information for us if they weren't destroyed."

"Right," Harvey replied. He was still waiting on Lieutenant Burke to pull that telemetry, assuming it was available at all. "Well, it sounds like we have and haven't made progress." He sighed.

"We'll get them back, Captain," Camila said with emotion filling her tired words. She had an investment as well as the dedication to the crew and nothing was going to stop her. "What should we do with Kr'ozzu?"

"Keep him close," Harvey said. "In fact, when we get there, I want him on the bridge, just in case we need to negotiate with D'rimo."

"Do you think he'll negotiate with someone that he exiled?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "He was trying to get you as a way to get back in with his father."

"I never said he'd be doing the negotiating," Harvey countered. He knew all too well what it was like to have a father who rarely spoke to him. In fact, one of the first thing Harvey planned to do as soon as communications with the Alpha Quadrant were restored was to contact his parents. "Besides, whether he's still useful or not, it doesn't matter. There's a natural bond between a father and son that may yet prove useful."

"We'll know when the time comes," Camila said. "I just hope that we can get the Cochrane crew back home safe and sound." Especially Temerant she thought, but didn't say it. It wasn't the time or the place, so she would carry on as she had been for who knows how many days and keep taking one step at a time.

He nodded his agreement. "My sentiments exactly," he confirmed. "Anything else?" he asked her.

"No, Sir," she said. "I'll get with Ops and Engineering next and see what we can do with the probes."

"And I'll see to that telemetry," he replied. The clock was ticking, and they'd be at the asteroid field before they knew it.

"Until then, Captain," Camila said and headed out.

Harvey watched her leave, sighing as she did so. It wasn't that he was disappointed. He just hated going into a situation he knew nothing about. If anything, this ship and its crew was doing far better at handling the unexpected. For that, he could commend his crew. Assuming they made it through this one alive...

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