Moving Out

Posted on Wed Nov 24th, 2021 @ 3:22am by Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell & Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commander Finchley Kerr & Commander Savar cha'Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Lieutenant Commander Thriss Kla'ren & Commander Dean House & Lieutenant Commander Aurora Vali & Lieutenant JG Avarak & Harper McGinnis

Mission: Gamma Quadrant
Location: Bridge of the Sunfire - Entering the Gamma
Timeline: Current

Savar sat in the center seat of the USS Sunfire and read the PaDD containing their orders...again "You are hereby directed and ordered to proceed back into the Gamma Quadrant and to investigate and determine the nature of the Cardassian presence there. You are also hereby ordered to leave within the next forty-eight hours," It was signed by the Commander of Starfleet. That had been forty-seven hours ago.

Savar had of course stalled and protested that the Sunfire could not leave without Captain Kaylen and he was politely but firmly reminded he was the Captain of the Sunfire until and when Captain Kaylen returned and he had his orders. A retrieval call had been sent out to all crew to return to the Sunfire as their departure was scheduled.

He was disappointed that Rhenora would not be with them but she was still planet side conducting her own investigation to the mysterious deaths of several of her former resistance cell members. He was hopeful she would again sit in the center seat when their patrol was done and they had returned to the space station. However, that was in the future and he needed to deal with the here and now.

He had received word all crew were back aboard and he had given orders to move back and into the wormhole. As they left the station, the wormhole opened up and the Sunfire entered the multi-colored tunnel. He looked to Aurora who was seated in her customary seat to the left of the center seat. The XO seat was empty.

Moments later they were back in the Gamma Quadrant.

"Mr. Kerr, please make sure sensors are properly attuned to pick up and Cardassian warp signatures."

After checking his console, Finchley replied "Sensors online and calibrated for Cardassian warp signatures Sir."

"Mr. House, make sure all weapons and shields show ready."

"All of my systems, including Betty are ready."

"Mr. Kla'ren, how is Engineering? No problems?"

"Aurora are you sensing anything unusual from the crew?"

Aurora shook her head as she looked at her husband, “Nothing out of the ordinary so far Sir.”

"Very good. thank you, Counselor." Savar replied as he glanced at Churchill seated at the CONN station. "Mr. Churchill, plot a course back to where we first encountered the cloud. We will begin our investigation there."

"Aye sir, course plotted and laid in." Was the reply.

"Engage. warp five if you please." Savar ordered as the Sunfire jumped to warp.

In The Galley:

Harper was going through the stores the ship received while at DS9. To his amazement, everything had been delivered, even the different types of eggs. This would be important as the crew would be getting some special desserts during the mission.

Back on the Bridge:

Finchley's badge chirruped. Tapping it he said "Commander Kerr here."

"Sir, it's Karadis" Finchley's assistant replied "You have a Priority message from Sentinel One."

"Sentinel One!" Finchley repeated, somewhat surprised.

"Yes Sir" Karadis confirmed.

"Send the message through to me here Karadis, Kerr out" Finchley said.

Within seconds, the message came. Using his personal decode, he read the message three times just to make sure he took it all in. Recoding it and filing it away in his personal files, then wiping all trace of it from the console he was at, he left his station and approached Savar.

"Sir, may I speak with you in your Ready Room please, it's rather urgent, it pertains to our current situation."

Savar looked at Kerr, his face an unreadable mask as he listened to Kerr. "Of course Mr. Kerr." He replied as he rose fluidly from the command chair. "Mr. House you have the bridge until we return." As he walked towards his ready room for a conversation with Kerr.

"Understood." Giving a curious look, Dean stayed at his station, however. No need to move to the chair to sit down. He could handle things from there. "Steady on course, Helm."

[Captains Ready Room]

As the doors to the room closed, Finchley turned to Savar and said "With your permission Sir, may I seal the room?"

"Certainly Commander," Savar answered even though the request was out of the ordinary, he realized Kerr must have what he felt was a good reason for making such a request.

"Thank you Captain" Finchley replied, then added, "Computer, seal this room, stop all recording and surveillance, authorization Kerr Omega Papa six three two Delta."

~Authorisation accepted, room sealed, all recording and surveillance stopped~

"Sir, when we arrived back at DS Nine, I filled out my reports as normal and filed them" Finchley began "however, I also filed a request for information on the USS Patterson's whereabouts and current mission, I wanted to know why they were in the ion cloud, and also if they already knew the Cardassians were coming. The second part to that question was answered by the Patterson's actions, but the transport of Cardassian crew, then going to warp, that was odd to say the least. In itself, my request shouldn't have been unusual, being as I served on that ship with Captain Anderson for two years. I got the usual standard reply back with the usual patrol patterns so on and so forth that the Patterson had been on. I didn't think much of it after that, not until a few minutes ago when I received a message from Sentinel One. That got my attention, Sir, Sentinel One is Starfleet Intelligence...well, they're..." and he struggled a little to find the right wording "...they do the dirty work when there's a requirement to get information...and get it at any cost. The message I received from them said that the USS Patterson was 'engaged on a matter of vital importance to the Federation in regards to ongoing investigations of Dominion activity'. Sir, the Patterson isn't rogue, it's on a covert mission, but Mark...I mean, Captain Anderson, has full autonomy on what he see's as fit to get his mission completed. I believe that's why they were already in the ion cloud, they knew the Cardassians were coming, they knew they'd try and board the Bajoran Carriers and they knew they'd be attempting to kidnap the Arngards crew. Now that they have them, they may torture them to get the information they need, and by hook or by crook, they'll get it" he finished.

Throughout Kerr's explanation, Savar sat in silence not interrupting his Strategic Ops Chief. His face an unreadable mask. Only after Kerr had finished his explanation did Savar speak. "I am familiar with Starfleet Intelligence and in both the role they play and the missions they undertake in the name of Federation security Commander." He leaned back in his seat as he regarded Karr. "Now in regards to the Patterson's mission and Captain Anderson's authority where does that place us? As our orders are to investigate Cardassian activity and what they wanted with the cloud. It seems part of that equation has been answered they were after the Bajoran transports specifically their crews."

"Sir, I think the only one's who can really answer what the Cardassians wanted from those on the Carriers are the Bajorans on the Carriers" Finchley replied "We know there were crew and some of the New Bajor Government, but what if there were others we don't know about, say, Bajoran Intelligence or even Starfleet Intelligence? The Cardassians had three ships in the ion cloud, that's a lot of ships and I can only surmise it was a high priority target they wanted to get. If, and it's a very big if, it was Bajoran or Starfleet Intelligence or someone with intimate knowledge of current Federation tactical information, the Cardassians knew. We must try and get some answers, something that can aid us and get us perspective of what role the Patterson now has and what we think they'll be doing. We have a ship full of excellent officers and crew here, surely we can use their expertise to get the information we need?"

Your argument is both logical and persuasive Mr. Kerr. I further concur in your statement that the only way we can know what role the Patterson now has and is engaged in, is for ourselves to obtain answers has to the full scope of Cardassian involvement. We will use the resources we have at our disposal to do that. Those being this ship and crew." Savar paused for a moment before continuing. "Let us obtain some answers to the mystery before us." Savar answered crisply.

"With your permission Captain, I'll get back in contact with Sentinel One, see what information I can garner in regards to the USS Patterson's wider mission parameters" Finchley replied, adding "Might I suggest that Lieutenant House contacts Starfleet Security, try and get what information he can on what the situation and conditions were on New Bajor prior to the two Carriers leaving and also find out if they had a passenger list, names would be handy for any Government officials along with any of their staff..also any Bajoran Militia officers who managed to get onboard. It would also be good to see if Lieutenant Vali could get any information on what Counsellors handled the survivors, see if she can ascertain if anything they said can help us. At this juncture, no detail is to small or insignificant. We have to build up a picture of what was happening on the planet at the time of the forced evacuation, this could help us ascertain why the Cardassians were so focused on trying to get to the two Carriers. That in turn might give us more information that could lead us to why Captain Anderson was so hell bent on getting the Arngards crew."

"One thing at a time Mr. Kerr. Yes, you can contact Sentinel One and any information they have concerning the Patterson. I will speak with Mr. House when we are through to contact Starfleet Security. Once you and Mr. House have completed your tasks we will proceed from there. At this time I will not ask Lt Vali to garner any information from the Counselors that handled the survivors, However this is subject to change." Savar answered calmly.

"Very good Sir" Finchley replied. now eager to see what he could find out, if anything, about what Mark and his crew were doing "If that's all Captain, may I unseal the room?"

"By all means Commander," Savar replied calmly

"Thank you Sir" Finchley replied, then said "Computer, unseal this room, begin all recording and surveillance again, authorization Kerr Omega Papa six three three Delta."

~Authorisation accepted room unsealed, all recording and surveillance recommenced~

Finchley turned to Savar and offered the Captain to exit the room before himself.

Exiting the Ready Room, Savar strode back to the center chair as he sat, he spoke to House. "Mr. House, please contact Starfleet Security and see what information you can gather on the following. What was the situation and what were conditions were on New Bajor prior to the two Carriers leaving and also find out if they had a passenger list."

"Security, sir?" House tilted his head a little bit. "Alright, curious. Excuse me a moment." While he sent the request for that information. Not having to move as he was still at his original post instead of moving to the command chair.

Ronson watched carefully as the two exited the Ready Room, several padds in his hand and a pot of Vulcan tea ready for the new Captain. Savar seemed to be taking command of the Sunfire in his stride, his style certainly different from Captain Kaylen's, but the crew worked smoothly under his guidance.

"Reports for you Sir, and some tea." he cleared his throat politely as he approached the Captain's chair.

Savar took the reports and the tea. "Thank you, Mr. Ronson." He said to the petty officer. "Your thoughtfulness is most appreciated."

Aurora looked at her husband curiously. “Anything we need to know about Sir?”

Savar read through the reports. "No Aurora, nothing unusual. Standard reports. I was hopeful that a report on Captain Kaylen would be included but it appears not."

“Would you like me to check and see if there’s any news on the Captain? I’m sure she’s fine, we’d have heard something by now if there was anything wrong.”

Ronson overheard the conversation and the words made his heart swell with pride. He had been concerned they would move in without the Captain and continue about their business without a second thought. He also understood their current orders were indeed just that.

" If you like Sir's, I could make some discreet enquiries for you" He said quietly"

"I would appreciate that very much Mr. Mitchell, please see what you can find out. I know how highly you think of Captain Kaylen. It's an opinion we share." Savar answered his voice low as this was a private conversation in a very public setting.

" Yes Sir, I'll get on it straight away" He nodded, topped up Savar's tea and headed for his office.

TBC