Outside Information

Posted on Thu Oct 19th, 2017 @ 1:33pm by Lieutenant Renee Salchin & Lieutenant Commander J'Loni Mo'Bri

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/3
Location: Renee's Quarters
Timeline: June 17th, 1000

ON:

The light was on as Renee entered her quarters. Not the overhead light, that was off, but the indicator light that told her a message had come in while she was out. The one that told her that the message was urgent and she needed to call 'home' right away. She swept the cloth off the comm unit and activated the micro-wormhole. This time, when the Master Chief came on, she didn't ask for a verification, but without a word, held up an index finger and flashed off the screen to be replaced by Captain Andrew Vernet who had a worried look on his face. "Renee, good, you're there. I got results back from those names you gave me and I needed to talk to you right away. First, are there any updates?"

"Yes, sir..." This hit Renee hard, "Commander Mo'Bri locked down engineering, but I'm not sure its that good of an idea... It might alarm someb-"

"Good." Andy glanced to the side, "Comm the Commander and get her to your quarters right now, while I'm on here. She needs to hear what I've found."

Renee nodded then reached off screen, "Chief Salchin to Commander Mo'Bri, I'm sorry to bother you, but can I have you come by my quarters? I've got something interesting here that I need you to look at." She used words that would sound innocent if overheard, "All for one." And that was meant to get her attention to the matter.

J'Loni was a bit surprised, but it really should not, since Renee was now a Musketeer. Once she hit the door chime she waited patiently with Lone Wolf, leashed by her side.

Renee tapped another button, "Shirley, we have company coming. Can you meet her at the door and show her in?"

"Of course, ma'am."

Renee looked back to Andy, "While she's on her way, anyone on the list we don't need to worry about?"

"Bartlett's clean, so is Mordin and Barnaby, though he has a shadow or two, but they're ID'd and minor. Niras Tomo says that Rostra Tang is a definite clean Dalacari. They met a few times and his impression is rather good. Valentine is a complete question mark to us, all we have is a bunch of physiological data and a couple psych evals. The others? Let's wait for the Commander."

As the doors opened, she was greeted by Renee's room mate Shirley. "I am Lt. Cmdr. Mo'Bri and Renee has asked my presence. Lone Wolf is my companion and guard. May we enter", she said smartly.

A practiced glance at the wolf told Shirley that it could be dangerous if provoked, very dangerous, "Of course, ma'am, you are expected." Locking the door behind them, Shirley escorted J'Loni the twenty feet to Renee's bedroom door, which slid open.

Renee looked up, then punched a few buttons and Andrew's viewpoint widened to allow room for J'Loni to be seen by him as well. "Commander." Renee said respectfully, "thank you for coming so quickly." She gestured to the holoscreen projecting from the innocuous looking box that contained a very small, but very recognizable wormhole, "Ma'am, may I introduce you to Captain Andrew Vernet, Starfleet Research and Development division on Titan Base orbiting Jupiter in the Sol system."

J'Loni was shocked, surprised, and more to the point, how was this communication getting through at this point. To say the least, this device was way beyond her own understanding of the total concept of such a thing.
"What the...no what in the name of Kahless is this? Is this a trick or some type of joke? Renee what is going on here?", she said, looking, not only at the box but the image.

"It's a practical use for a potential game changing stardrive, if we can get some of the bugs worked out." the Captain said, "Renee can let you in on that one at some later point, Commander, but it's good to finally talk to you, but I wish the circumstances were better."

Renee shrugged sheepishly with a slight smile, "Sorry, ma'am, I wasn't at liberty to reveal this project, nor any of the others at this time."

"No worries Renee, it just a shock to see something like this. Hello Captain, it is a pleasure to speak with you. How may I be of service?", she asked.

"I heard you locked down engineering, which is good. Find someone in security or so you can trust to keep an ear out on case whoever is sabotaging your ship takes offense, and on that note... I'm sending a data packet to Renee now in response to her request last night about some names, which included yours and your protegees." Renee flushed in embarassment, "Obviously you checked out, which is why you're here now. But there are some question marks that I've just sent, including a Major Lo'Mah, who Intelligence is trying to connect to an opposition movement with the Federation, which is itself odd because of his being a Klingon. We keep an eye on all Klingons serving with the fleet due to House conflicts. Another interesting note is that Commander Bowman was late in reporting for her assignment after taking leave. It was only a few days, but, it showed up as a yellow flag."

"Captain, I can vouch for my people in that you need not worry about their loyalty. They are a hand picked crew by me who have worked with me through the years together on the same ship. As for Lo'Mah , he has been found by the Klingon High Council as a traitor and since he is of one of the dissident Houses that attacked my House in the past and just now recently, I have sworn a blood oath and the rite of vengence and he will be summarily be executed my me and by Lt. Mok'Tor, who is also of my alligned Houses sworn to uphold Chancellor Mot'tok' pledge of peace and assistance to this initiative", she said.

"Commander, be careful about that." The Captain's tone became wary and he resisted the urge to glance at Renee, "Not that I am concerned as much about his prospects as in the fact that he is an officer in Starfleet. You can't just walk up to him and execute him as long as he is a Starfleet officer, this isn"t the Imperial Klingon Fleet and since Renee seems to like you, I don't want you to throw your career away by committing what the Fleet and the Federation as the murder of a serving officer. Now, if you can find some justification, say, he's resisting arrest under charges of fomenting sedition and attacks you by falling to the floor to strike you with the concussive force?" He gave a grin, "Plausible deniabilty."

"Captain, at this point, because of my unique position having both my grandparents sitting directly on the council and with Chancellor Mar'tok, I can safely say Lo'Mah is the poorest excuse for a Federation officer, if he even is one. Besides the matter is a Klingon one and not for the Federation to decide his fate. He is a dead man and there is no stopping it. Honor must be satisfied and it will be. If he does anything to provoke an un-mitigated attempt on my life, or that of my family or those families of my team members, I will not hesitate in my actions. I have the full support of the Klingon council in that matter. As you say, 'plausible deniability'. There are several here that will back it up. On another note, I am going to push for Renee to take the officers exam to get her Ensign's pip. She has shown me that she is a capable officer and should be recognized as such. It would be my honor to put that on her uniform", she said.

"Has she now?" Andrew shared a glance with Renee, "There are some that would say she doesn't deserve to be in Starfleet, much less be an officer. I assume she's told you about how she got booted out of the Academy?" Renee nodded to him, "Let's just say it wasn't just due to grades, sorry, Renee."

"No problem, Skipper." Renee shook her head with a smile, "But I've always told you I could do good on the test, but there are seven chief engineers that would likely argue the point."

"And that does bring up a few mitigating circumstances that might prevent Renee's getting commissioned as an Ensign. Possibly not enough to kill her chances at it, but they can truly be serious if certain people get a bee up their asses." Something on the Captain's face look semi amused, "I'm not one of those who thinks she wouldn't make a good officer, however. But I haven't been able to get Renee to take the test, just been all stubborn-like."

"I told you I'd take it when I damn well felt like it." Renee quipped, "And you know, I think I might."

Andrew laughed and raised a hand, "There you have it. Commander, if you can get Renee to take the test, we'll see what I can do about those issues. It won't be easy, mind you, but I'll do what I can."

Laughing a little, "I think I can get her to do it soon enough. I am interested in discussing some ideas I have for the warp drive here on the Wellington. Maybe we can get her to 9.9 for a longer period of time without damaging the space frame and weakening the structural integrity of her. I have a whiz genius in that atea and 2 nuts for propulsion and warp so may be we could get together and exchange information", she said smiling.

"We have a few ideas on that little thing out here, but part of it would require a structural redesign in certain areas. And as for propulsion, we've been working on an entirely new drive which so far has resulted in that little bitty wormhole we're talking over right now, but that needs a lot of work." Andrew said reflexively, then shook his head, "But that should wait until the crisis on the Wellington is dealt with." He glanced at Renee, who was tapping her wrist, "And we need to cut this link, whatever Renee has cooked up to cover any emissions leakage seems to be about to run out. As you can probably imagine, this is a closely held secret, none of your people besides you are authorized to have the information for the moment."

"Agreed. Captain I can't express my thanks for speaking with you. It has been most informative and interesting. I must be getting back", she said nodding to Renee as she left.

"Your discretion on it, Renee, and keep me updated."

"Yes, sir." Renee waved at Andy. Then killed the comm. There was a lot of work left to do.

Tag

Lt. Cmdr. J'Loni Mo'Bri
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Wellington

Chief Petty Officer Renee Salchin
Engineering NCO
USS Wellington

Captain Andrew Vernet
R&D Division Head
Titan Base, In Orbit Around Jupiter