That's a-more eh?

Posted on Tue Sep 7th, 2021 @ 10:49pm by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commander Finchley Kerr

Mission: Gamma Quadrant
Location: Captains Ready Room
Timeline: Current.

The information Finchley had been waiting on had finally been verified and sent to him from the Intelligence department on the USS Patterson. PADD in hand, he headed to the Captains Ready Room to pass the news on.

Arriving there moments later, he pressed the chime and awaited a reply from within.

Rhenora looked up from the padd she was reading, the latest intel from the Gamma Quadrant was their own, and the previous ship hadn't proceeded as far as the Sunfire was planning on going. Who knew what was going on out there and it would be up to the Sunfire and her crew to find out.

"Come in" She called, turning her attention to the visitor. "Ahh Commander Kerr, please take a seat"

"Thank you for seeing me Sir, I've got the information from the USS Patterson" Finchley said as he approached the CO's desk. Quickly getting the information onscreen, he added "As you can see in part one, I asked if there was any way the Bajoran Antares Class carriers could be traced to find out what direction they'd taken. It was difficult to track, but eventually they'd managed to narrow it down to the fact the carriers were indeed older sub-light ships, older than anything I've ever known, heaven knows how they were still serviceable, but they were and they were used. The way the Patterson could track them was a barely noticeable hydrogen oxide trail. Now, as you know, hydrogen is part and parcel of the basic building blocks of the universe, however, hydrogen oxide isn't a natural background building block component, it's found when hydrogen is badly stored. My best guess, and those that I conferred with on the Patterson is that both the carriers were so old, they've been leaking hydrogen oxide from the beginning of the escape from New Bajor. The trail appears to be heading towards the ion dust cloud we saw on the map when we spoke previously, so a hunch tells me they're heading that way."

" Good work Commander, and don't be surprised about how old the carriers are, you'd be surprised what we got in the air during the occupation. Where's there's a will, and a good mechanic.." She said with a wry smile, reviewing the data on the padd and regarding the ion cloud that Kerr had mentioned previously.

He paused for a moment before carrying on with the other part of his reported information "The second part of the information is more worrying from Starfleet's point of view. Just moments before the Patterson was attacked, their Communications Officer had picked up a signal..part of a transmission. Unfortunately the Communications console, along with the officer on duty, were the first casualties of the attack. It wasn't till the Patterson got back to DS Nine and they'd managed to piece together what they could from the wreckage, did they read the remnants of the communication. It reads 'From base...ee...Starfl...destroy...Vorta Wey...imperative...' "

" Hmmmmm, that is troubling indeed" Rhenora rubbed her chin thoughtfully, trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. For all intents and purposes it looked indeed like the Dominion were not laying idle and were rebuilding and regrouping, something that would make their trip in the Gamma Quadrant more dangerous, yet all the more important. "We need to get first hand information, and fast" She admitted sagely, the knot in her stomach starting to twist and turn with the news.

" How badly was the Patterson damaged?" She asked carefully, not having been able to source that information recently.

"Thankfully none of the crew were killed" Finchley replied "but they did have a number who were injured, some badly. In regards to the ship itself, the secondary hull was punctured, they lost one of their phaser arrays and the computer core was damaged hence it taking time to get this information to you. From what I've gathered, they'll be at DS Nine for a few more days getting repairs finished."

He paused for a moment and looked away from Rhenora, taking time to form what he wanted to say next.

"Sir, they've requested to go back into the Gamma Quadrant to hunt down the Cardassian ships. Ordinarily, I wouldn't disagree with that kind of request, however, it's my belief that Captain Anderson has taken this attack personally and he wants revenge."

He looked back at Rhenora again and asked "Is this something...anything...no matter how small, that's prompted your decision to return there as well?"

" It wouldn't be the first time a Captain has taken something personally" She agreed sagely, knowing it was something that happened all too regularly. Captains were people as well.

"As for our circumstance, we have been ordered from Command to understand the Dominion's tactical readiness. It's obvious there are ships out there picking fights, but as for the Dominion as a whole - we need to know if they're planning another war and how ready they are to do that." Rhenora explained, regarding her new officer carefully. " As for me, there's nothing personal in this one, apart from a desire to make the Gamma Quadrant a safer place for everyone"

"Thank you for allaying my concern Sir" Finchley replied "I'm glad to hear your reasons because I want to pass on my other concern which is why Captain Anderson asked to go back to the Gamma Quadrant ASAP after repairs were completed on his ship. Please don't get me wrong, I fully understand Captain Anderson's reasons as well. I've served with him on three occasions, including during the Dominion war, on two ships. He's tried to keep the same crew with him as often as he could, he trusted them, but as time has gone by, more and more of them have either been killed or severely injured. On the Patterson, it was Lieutenant Commander Brett Finlayson, Lieutenant Charlie Brax and myself who were the last of his original serving crew, so when we were attacked and Brett and Charlie were both injured, I think this has pushed him over the edge and why he wants to return there for revenge on the Cardassians, and I'm very concerned he may take matters into his own hands."

Rhenora thought for a moment, choosing her words carefully and cautiously. "You think he may be a loose canon?" It was a big implication of a fellow Captain was heading off the rails, particularly one in the same region of space as she was.

"You have to remember Sir, this is just my own personal concern" Finchley replied "I've never seen Mark..I mean, Captain Anderson, react this way before after a fight. However, to answer your question, in his mind, he has justification and is doing the right thing, but for me, he may be a loose canon indeed. Please bare in mind though Sir, Captain Anderson is highly decorated veteran, and though most of his crew are new to him, he has a charisma that draws crew to him so that they'll walk through fire and brimstone for him. I can't say for certain, but I may be one of the few people who can still get through to him 'if' he's seeking revenge, so please use me as you will if we encounter him and the Patterson whilst we're out there."

Rhenora files the information in the back of her mind. So Anderson was still reasonable, just perhaps had his moral compass knocked off centre. The same thing had happened to her a number of years ago and she had careful not to let it waver since. "Hopefully we won't need your persuasive powers, but if we do, I will most definitely call on you." She advised, the knot within her gut twisting some more. "Was his plan to head back into the Ion cloud?"

"That information I'm not privy to Sir, sorry" Finchley replied "but if I can give an educated guess, given Captain Andersons past tactical moves in situations, I would say he'll head that way, but try to draw out any Cardassian ships along the way. He'll most likely head back into the hell mouth the ship was in before, only this time he'll be ready for any attacks. One thing the Patterson has in it's favour is it has a fighter squadron it can deploy, and they'll be sitting in their cockpits round the clock. Last time, because the attack was so sudden and furious, the fighters couldn't be deployed" he finished.

"He's not the only one with that tactical advantage" The Captain replied with a crooked smile, but still she was worried Anderson may go rouge if the situation presented itself. "For now, we'll keep to our current assignment ut we'll keep an active sensor sweep going for the Patterson in the hope we can intervene before he causes an interstellar incident. The last thing we need is someone poking the Cardassians or Dominion into a war we're not ready for"

"Absolutely Sir" Finchley replied "In all fairness, Captain Anderson's heart is in the right place, but his judgement on how to get the best outcome is questionable. If there's nothing else Captain, I'll leave this information with you to look over and decide upon, if there's anything else I can do to help or try to get further info on, please let me know."

" Thank you Commander for bringing this to my attention, we will most definitely keep an open eye and ear for him whilst we are in the Gamma Quadrant. I'll review the data now" Rhenora nodded as the new officer rose from his chair. As he left the room she turned her attention to the detailed data in the padd and began to read in earnest.