Work Before Fun (Mission Briefing)

Posted on Thu Oct 17th, 2024 @ 1:08pm by Commander Zhaan D'Sai & Captain Rylan Gray & Lieutenant Sarah Graesyn & Lieutenant Tyler Malbrooke & Lieutenant Daegan Baas & Lieutenant Patrick Ryan & Lieutenant Stormy Knight & Lieutenant Commander Harrison Knox

2,885 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: A Silence of Friends
Location: Conference Room, Deck 1, USS Thunderbird
Timeline: MD001 - 0900

With the ship docked at Starbase 310 and off-duty personnel released for shore leave, Rylan called a meeting of the senior staff for 0900. This would be the crew's first chance to get a good look at their new First Officer and a chance for everyone to discuss what happened on Quasinon III. As was his habit, he entered the Conference Room at five minutes before the hour and was surprised to see his new First Officer already there. One leg tucked beneath her, she was reading, as she had been every minute since being aboard, to catch up on the last mission and on the new one they'd just received.

Still true to his nature and habits, Lieutenant Commander Harrison Knox arrived promptly. What happened on Quasinon III had resulted in the current change of command structure. He was removed from his position as Executive Officer, and placed in the vacant Second Officer position. A new First Officer was found to replace him.

It was frustrating to know that he would no longer be Rylan's right hand, but there were consequences for the actions he allowed during the away mission. He would push that all aside the best he could to welcome Commander D'Sai and settle in to his own new duties.

Patrick after having checked over sickbay and the labs to make sure they were up to his standards made his way to the conference room where the briefing was to be held. He entered nodded to the captain and the man who was standing there as well. “Dr. Patrick Ryan at your service,” he said his Irish accent coming through.

"Please have a seat, Doctor," Rylan said. "And get yourself something to drink if you've a mind."

Stormy walked in and looked around at those already present, noting the new arrivals. "Good morning," she said to the room as a whole. She was sorry for her part in the former XO's demotion, but she still couldn't shake off the feeling that they'd been played. She put a hand on Knox's shoulder as she passed to let him know he still had her support and took a seat farther down the table.

Knox had smiled at the gentle touch of Stormy on his shoulder. It was a kind gesture, by as Knox reminded himself Heavy is the head that wears the crown and his mind was spinning with thoughts and it felt like an emotional cyclone within, but a stiff lip and steely gaze kept him composed. "Pleasure to have you aboard, Doc," Knox said with a simple nod in the man's direction.

Tyler stepped into the Conference Room with a grin from ear to ear. He was over the moon as with the assistance of Engineering he got the Thunderbird's power output goosed up. The ship was now the most efficient in the fleet. When he arrived he saw Commander Knox and a small pang of guilt and sorrow overtook him. It always sucked when someone had to take the fall for someone else's mistakes. Tyler had a feeling that the whole Quasinon III mission was staged and that they were set up for failure. "Morning everyone." he said as he took his seat. Tyler risked a glance at Stormy and a wink. He was truly smitten by her.

Stormy had watched Tyler walk in. When he looked her way, she smiled, then had to look down so others wouldn't see it turn into a grin. Ever since their dinner, she couldn't get him off her mind. But this was definitely not the time or place to act like a silly schoolgirl, so she focused on recent changes and what the captain might have to say.

Sarah stepped in, catching Knox' eye and nodding to him supportively before taking her place. She knew the full details from Iren's briefing and she was not pleased to see Commander Knox taking the hit for something that she herself had a hand in. Nonetheless she kept her composure and looked around the room to see who all else was present already and she surveyed Commander D'Sai as she did anybody else she was meeting for the first time, trying to get a good read on the new XO.

Daegan strode into the conference room padd and coffee in hand. Moving around to his seat he nodded to the former XO. Regardless of the actions on the surface and their consequences he was still his superior officer and glad of it. He had lived several lifetimes and in all that time he couldn't remember one of the Baas hosts NOT making a mistake, before of after joining, and he was no exception.

"First, I'd like to introduce you to our new First Officer, Commander D'Sai." Rylan gestured toward the Nicati sitting on his right. Slender, her long white-gold hair pulled back into loose braid, she seemed more delicate than commanding. Until, of course, one met her frank and sharply perceptive gaze. "She's only been aboard an hour but they'll be time for you all to get to know her on the way to our next mission. For now, there's something else that needs discussing and that's the events that occurred on Quasinon." He paused a moment, his gaze meeting those of the team assembled. "The goal, as outlined in your mission brief, was to aid the Bajorans in leaving the planet and possibly, make positive contact with them. A chance to start the Federation on a new path with their people. That didn't happen but a missed chance isn't why I'm bringing this up. I want to talk about the decision by this team to 'steal' data from the Cardassian computers."

Knox looked at Rylan. The elephant in the room was noticed by everyone, and though Knox knew things needed to brought up and touched upon, he was not going to let anyone else through themselves on their swords.

"My decision," adjusted Knox. "As then First Officer and leader of the away team. The decision to take the data was mine, not the team's."

"Yes, Commander, I'm aware," Rylan said patiently, and through force of will, kept the sigh that would have followed it from escaping. "This is neither about blame or responsibility. This about understanding the events that happened there. And why this team chose to pursue a course that could have led to an escalation of hostilities with the Cardassians. Something the Federation does not wish to happen. Now, I want to hear from the other members of this team."

Tyler was still relatively new to this crew. However, he liked and respected Knox and would not allow the man to be hung out to dry. "Sir, if I may. Upon arrival we fell prey to a security trap. The link to the Cardassian computers was a good idea from an operational stand point. Not only would it allow us to see and possibly disable any further traps, should the need arise. But it also would allow us to learn what transpired there and why we were beaten to the proverbial punch. Generally speaking when there is no one available to give answers the computers present are the eyes and ears and the best place for answers. The connection can be severed at any moment." Tyler made sure to modulate his town to be respectful while still explaining. He found it troubling sometimes for command officers to not understand the situation on the ground.

"Sir," Stormy said, wanting the captain to be fully aware of why they did what they did. "Based on the evidence of the explosives and the difficulty reaching the Bajorans, we believe they set the traps for anyone coming after the Cardassians left the planet. That made no sense if they were hoping to be rescued. In addition, they were very angry. As a Betazoid, it was impossible to miss that. We also had concerns about the Cardassians because we felt they were hiding something. We did not wish to violate the treaty, but if the Cardassians or the Bajorans were doing anything that went against those treaties, we--I--felt it was important to at least see if there was anything going on the Federation needed to know. If not, the data would be deleted. I was one who urged Commander Knox to let us look at the data because the behavior of both parties led us to believe there was something underhanded going on. I do not believe Starfleet would expect us to ignore such blatant irregularities."

Looking across the table at Stormy, Daegan nodded along in full agreement with her statement. While down there it was like they were fighting the Bajorans and helping the Cardassians not the other way around.

"I see," Rylan said. "Keep in mind that these were Bajoran slaves, unwilling to trust the Cardassians to remove them safely. It's not out of the realm of possibility that they would booby-trap the installation to hinder anyone intent on preventing them from getting the ship they found space worthy. They took their fates into their own hands. Where this all started to wrong was that no one attempted to speak with them prior to entry. If you had, things might have gone quite differently. This was, first and foremost, a rescue mission and an attempt to reach out to the Bajorans. For the record, Starfleet has reviewed the files you took from the mining installation. Along with records of their mining operation, because that's all it was, data within the system could have been used to aid infiltration of other more secured Cardassian networks. If the Cardassians knew what you had done, what you took, this would have gone very badly. Fortunately, they are none the wiser and Starfleet considers the incident to be closed."

Stormy still felt that they were missing something, but if the files they uploaded showed nothing untoward, there was nothing more to say. She simply nodded her understanding.

"We are fortunate I suppose that it is a closed matter... though for the record I backed the decision to look at the data as well, Captain. Things seemed off from the get go with the mission... it did not seem as though the Bajorans had any intent on being rescued from my perspective, especially after reading the after mission briefs. That being said I am glad that there is no escalation and that it is not a larger matter."

Knox cleared his throat. Closed he thought. That may have been true for some, but it was an open wound for him and it had torn his friendship with Rylan. "Sounds like opportunities ahead for redemption then. I'm sure the crew looks forward to showing what they are truly capable of, and follow the mission parameters."

Sarah looked to Knox and merely nodded, her piece being stated and she was in agreement with the Commanders words. Best to move on and past it.

"Thank you, Commander," Rylan said as he forced down the disappointment surging through him. "I certainly hope that is the case. Since you intend to have your say despite my saying the matter was closed," and at this he looked directly at his Chief Engineer, "I will reiterate this. The Bajorans didn't know you were there and we can make no assumption that they were even told about our arrival. They were slaves, kept to their duties, even after their home world was freed. Everything that happened afterward came out of the fact that the team did not make contact. Now, as Commander Knox has said, I look forward to seeing how you do in future away missions and expect that you'll have more respect for mission parameters in the future. Moving on."

"We're taking aboard a team of archeologists; our mission will be to transport them to Guran II. Recent surveys have discovered an intact city remarkably well-preserved. The team will set up base camp outside of the main city and study the ruins over the next year. Our job will be to make sure that nothing has changed since the last survey and assist the team with setting up modular housing and making sure that they have everything they need. Survey data on the planet will be forwarded to you though little is known other than basic survey data -- Class M planet, no life signs."

"There has been some advancement in modular housing in recent years; do we have the storage space to take on any prefabs before we head out or are we going to have to produce them as we travel?" Sarah refocused, searching her memory on what she knew of Archaeology in general.

"Mr. Malbrooke," Rylan said, turning toward his Chief of Operations since the Cargo holds fell within his varied responsibilities, "do we have sufficient storage?"

"Cargo Bays one and two should be enough space for the prefabs. We can also convert the holodeck for storage if we absolutely need it. At its heart the holodeck is simply a large room. We should not have any issues there. My thought in regards to this is the power draw on ship's systems. We will need to draw a significant amount of power to produce any of them while en route." Tyler reported. The wheels in his head already turned toward the problem. This would be interesting to say the very least.

They were to help an archaeological team. This was right in Stormy's wheelhouse and she looked forward to helping them get set up. "Are they bringing their equipment, or will we need to provide that as well as temporary housing?"

"As I understand it, rather than draw on our resources, the team will be bringing what they need," Rylan said. "There are some concerns about how well the more sensitive pieces will handle the trip and in any case, I think we should probably perform an inspection of the cargo so that you have time to produce anything that might have been overlooked."

"Agreed sir. I would add that someone from the team should assist on that inspection. Mainly to verify the condition of their equipment prior to our leaving on mission. This would create a reference point should something happen en route." Tyler had already begun to add notes on his PADD about what was to come. Thus far this seemed like a fairly ordinary mission. Although he was excited at the prospect of working with Stormy.

"I'll be happy to do that," Stormy said. "I've been on several digs myself and am familiar with the equipment and how it should operate." It would be nice to be involved, however briefly, with the archaeologists.

"Excellent," Rylan said. "I'll leave that to both of you then, making sure that everything is ready for the team when we reach Guran III."

Stormy nodded. She looked forward to working with Tyler on this.

Knox listened to the mission parameters. It sounded straight forward, more so than the politics of Bajorans and Cardassians. For that, he was thankful. He never wanted to see another Cardassian or Bajoran for that matter.

Sounded like a milk run and he hoped that to be true, but experience told him to error on the side of caution. There was an old Earth saying that echoed in the back of his mind; ~if it can go wrong it will go wrong~. Daegan looked to the Captain, "New archeological finds always draw treasure seekers of one kind of another. If I could get the layout of the area, as well as meet with the team lead, I can draw up a security plan for the site and storage of any relics. If that hasn't already been taken care of of course."

"As long as no one from the ship enters the city," Rylan said. "As far as site security for the scientists, I think that's a good idea. The lead archeologist is Dr. Nicholas Rush. Mr. Malbrooke, am I correct in thinking that he's in VIP Quarters."

"Yes sir. We have him assigned to quarters on deck two. I have already had the Quartermaster check the quarters. Everything is in working order and ready for the Doctor's arrival." Tyler reported.

The security chief nodded, making adjusting his to do list and to contact this Dr. Rush after the meeting. "Roger that sir. I will coordinate things with Dr. Rush, keep you in the loop as to their needs, as well as make sure only authorized personnel enter the city."

"Very good," Rylan said. "And if there are no other questions, we'll remain at the Starbase for twenty-four hours. Shore leave is authorized for off-duty personnel."

"Sounds good, Sir," Knox replied with a simple nod. He wasn't sure whether he'd be on the ship or setting foot on the surface, but he'd do whatever was expected of him.

A Post by:

Captain Rylan Gray
Commanding Officer
USS Thunderbird

and

Commander Zhaan D'Sai
First Officer
USS Thunderbird

and

Lieutenant Commander Harrison Knox
Second Officer
USS Thunderbird

and

Lieutenant Daegan Baas
Chief of Security
USS Thunderbird

and

Lieutenant Patrick Ryan
Chief Medical Officer
USS Thunderbird

and

Lieutenant Stormy Knight
Chief Science Officer
USS Thunderbird

and

Lieutenant Tyler Malbrooke
Chief of Operations
USS Thunderbird

and

Lieutenant Sarah Graesyn
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Thunderbird

 

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