Through a Windowed Garden

Posted on Saturday, 9 May 2020 - 6:28pm by Commander DeVala Victrix Ph.D

Mission: Operation: Recall
Location: USS Fontana | Deck 05 | Astrometrics - Stellar Cartography Laboratory
Timeline: 2393 MD 3

It was a fool's errand and she was starting to finally realize it. Four quadrants, but only two that mattered at least in the sense of trying to narrow down where Lieutenant Commander Barrett still water could potentially be. She had tasked her chief science officer and the ship psychologists to use whatever resources that they needed in order to narrow down some haystacks in which she and the crew could start searching for their needle. This had proven easier said than done, however, as the galaxy, even two quadrants were vastly uncharted. What they had to work with was known space, charted space, and historical star charts.

If Victrix had come to know and understand anything about Barret Stillwater, it was that the man had found his rock and had been living on it for quite some time. It had to be somewhere with resources and that meant populated and likely charted, and yet isolated enough from the Federation as to continue his post Starfleet existence in some form of secrecy. The thought had come to her that he could have easily been living under an assumed identity, but the psychological profile that Lieutenant T’Lanna Vali had come up with did not show a man who tucked tail and ran. He did not abandon Starfleet nor the Federation, they had abandoned him. At least in his mindset. The few personal logs Victrix could get her hands on said as much if not in so many words.

What was most curious about the man in question was his professionalism. He had launched formal protests, and yes, he did ultimately leave Starfleet, but he served up until his final days by wearing the uniform and conducting himself as he had ever since he matured from Starfleet Academy. If the man held malice and hatred for the Federation and Starfleet, he concealed it well. His personal logs were personal, and they showed his disagreements and noted the grievances filed, but his Captain’s logs were as crisp, clear, and professional as could be. He never showed any indication that he had soured on his crew. He did not have the psychological profile of someone who would use an assumed identity. If he was out there, he was out there as the truest form of himself.

Part of those resources that Vali and Kingsley had included intelligence personnel aboard, data analyst, the science department, and practically anybody. It was an ‘all hands’ matter. One of the reasons…no, the only reason Victrix had ventured as far down the deep galactic south as she had was to bring aboard one man. One that she hoped was able to help them.

Lieutenant Commander Victrix proceeded down one of the deck five corridors, took a left turn, and found herself walking through parting doors into what was considered ‘Astrometrics’ aboard the Merian class starship. It was a stellar cartography lab with several monitors encompassing the room and a few workstations. There was a long tablelike structure where people could gather around. Holographic projectors within it produced images that included various stellar maps, star charts, and data.

DeVala made a quick detour to a replicator and ordered herself a mug of coffee, careful and very mindful that she was in a room of advanced sensor technology and some of the more sophisticated and ‘pricy’ pieces of technology on the refitted vessel. Two men were at work in the laboratory. The one she had traversed a long and treacherous journey for, Rhydian il'Vastam and Senior Chief Petty Officer Álvaro Muñiz. “Gentlemen, please tell me you haven’t been burning the midnight oil for null. I need some damned good news” she said greeting them.

Visiting from afar, the cadet had been wandering between a pair of consoles on the extended platform for the better part of two hours. He hadn't spoken all that much, which had proven to be a key component of his while on duty. Although he wasn't cold, the few words he had exchanged with Muñiz were sparse, but properly concise. Still, in the least, he hadn't been rude, and while the commander had been warned he was one to be wary of unfamiliar environments, Rhydian had been cooperative. Likely in no small part due to the stunt Victrix had played attempting to get him aboard.

His own quirks were not the subject of discussion, contrary to the dry if not hushed comment regarding his lack of familiarity with the commander's expression. Fortunately for his own luck, having a human for an adoptive mother, he was able to use context clues to at least surmise the base facets. "Based on the data and profile you sent, I was able to compile a programme that will assist navigation with filtres. We may not have a suitable target yet, but there is at least a path."

She breathed a small sigh of relied. "It's more of a start than we've had" she said to the younger man. "In fact, anything you can provide will help significantly" she added. It was true. They had been strictly working with the man's personnel file and other records to guesstimate where Stillwater may have gone. Though there was some Forensic and Behavioral Psychology behind it, Victrix still felt like it was like grabbing several darts at once and launching them at a dart board to see how many, if any, actually stuck.

Star charts flew over the projector, surrounding them in the spherical portion of the chamber. Rhydian looked upwards towards the narrow passage of which they had been thrust into since beginning repairs. "We are currently here, a long distance from where you picked me up. While we are no doubt closer to Federation space, this is not what one might term a friendly neighbourhood -- I believe that is an appropriate human expression?" Looking over to the chief for confirmation, he shrugged, not wanting to squander the precious time they had available. "I don't have access to his entire dossier, and I will need to confer with the ship's psychologist for an accurate profile. That said, once we can achieve that I will be able to narrow our search."

Drawing his hands over the interface as the map panned, he lifted a palm to point out a chain of stars. "This is a nearby dust cloud, it partially interferes with sensors but may be noteworthy for investigating. There are also a number of planets along the identified search area. Far too many to search alone, but this algorithm will help eliminating false leads. I've trained it to accept input parametres as we qualify useful information. With your permission, I'll interlay a feed directly so it can interface with the helm from here."

Lieutenant Commander Victrix had listened to everything the man had said and explained to her. "Your request to his entire dossier is granted" she said swiftly. "I will speak with Lieutenant Vali personally to give you access. There are a few classified documents, but I will see about getting you those as well albeit some of the more intimate details will be retracted. I doubt much will be in there that is of use any ways, it was when he was an ensign" she explained.

She kept a polite social distancing from the man, not wanting to be hovering over his shoulder or invading his personal space. "We are not in a friendly neighborhood. Your are absolutely correct. One planet that was floated around was Vashti in the Qiris sector" Victrix stated. She made no mistake in underestimating the man's knowledge. "Do you think it could be a possibility? I know it was the hub for the Romulan relocation efforts and for a time had a Federation presence around, but has since been left to its own accord."

Factoring the input from Victrix, the map panned once more as the computer registered the plausible lead. The cadet recorded the information hastily, speaking as he typed. "Plausible. I would advise extreme caution. After the supernova, the Romulans have become intensely hostile, and distrustful towards the Federation. Particularly humans for their failed promises and vulcans after the reunification push. Braidans have maintained a warm relationship for several centuries, but I suspect that is likely only due to our shared heritage and common interests. Or that we took in no insignificant number of refugees through our trading links." Looking up to the overlay he circled the Qiris sector before looking over, establishing the first eye contact in some time with the person who recruited him.

"You're not going to want to take any trace of the Federation to a Romulan based world. That includes the Fontana, her shuttles, uniforms, or our equipment." He turned his attention to Muñiz, noticing the chief was still busy with data processing. "I'll outline a select amount of candidate planets in the nearby vicinity of Qiris." Thumbing over an index, a course was laid over their current trajectory, altered in the opposite direction which carried the ship nearly into the middle of a desolate region. Sprays of finer lines carved over the interface, designated by a smallcraft icon. "I sincerely doubt we'll be able to find one without looking, but if per chance we can find a Suliban merchant in the nearby area, it would be wise trading for a pair of helix cells or shuttle. We'd have to attach them to our docking ports, or tractor them along but Romulans have a tolerant relationship with them via trading. It would be far less suspicious than a
Starfleet shuttlecraft."

To an extent she absolutely wholeheartedly agreed with him; however, she was also a citizen of the Federation, a lower to a mid-level government official, and presently serving as a Starfleet officer. She did not have much time to be subtle and part of her mission was to be not so subtle. Some of her own ideas involved being transparent with the Romulans they encountered. It was a gambit she was considering taking while sticking her hand in the hornet's nest. "Yes," she replied immediately. "I agree with you that a Starfleet presence is not going to be appreciated here...anywhere out here" she noted.

A small sigh escaped her and she tried not to dwell on the negatives. "It's going to have to be with the Fontana and her shuttles, but I understand what you are saying. I won't bring the Fontana anywhere near a Romulan planet. We will keep a reasonable distance, but the shuttles...I want to make use of them. These people were fucked over by the Federation" she said and she did not mince words. "I cannot turn back time and change that, but I can be a small sigil of penance and hope. Small teams by shuttle, civilian attire, and medical supplies for the Romulans" offered Victrix. There was a slight trembling in her voice which she masked by taking a sip of coffee and turning her head briefly to wipe away the small formation of moisture which was beginning to accumulate.

Traces of a frown grew and faded just as quickly over the junior's expression as he restrained himself from commenting negatively. He'd only come aboard as an advisor, however, not expecting anything he was capable of offering to be taken into effect. Particularly because older, or senior personnel generally distrusted 'lackluster, or inexperienced' cadets and junior officers. He knew they had a reputation, but this course of action was highly inadvisable, to say the least.

"If it is a gesture you are attempting to make, commander, I would advise more than medical supplies. Many of these people are destitute. We cannot solve all of their problems, but a small parcel of first aid will hardly sway their opinion for the positive. They may even take it as an insult, which we do not need." Rhydian knew it was blunt; his mother had always instructed him to be honest though. Professional. But honest.

Disregarding the conversation before it turned into an argument, he looked back to the map. "Please give me a moment to pull up records on the selected planets." Silence settled, not accounting for the occasional chirp and trills echoed from the consoles as he worked, looking into the limited information Starfleet had access to. Windows were hastily shut, in favour of opening a link to the Exploratory infobase, accessing his credentials to overlay the previous information with his own resources.

"What we have is dated. There are, however, defense networks in place for three of the candidates. Lethal, if activated. Crude, and dated, but highly effective." He pulled a stack of PADDs out from the nearest cabinet opposite the commander before feeding the information in from his console and pulling the maps into it. "A digestible version. I imagine you will want to look over your options before coming to a decision."

She nodded. The somewhat silent tension was noticeable albeit she was not sure what to make of it. She did not know him well enough yet. Her eyes caught a glimpse of one of the displays in the room. It was one that Muniz was work near, but her directed attention was on Rhydian. "What is this area of space?" she inquired, moving towards the display and indicating the triangle sector where what was Romulan space used to nearly touch Federation and Klingon space, a convergent area.

Attention only faintly directed as he finished compiling information, Rhydian looked over to the demonstrated outline. "The Triangle. It has a number of other names, but that is the most well known. A lawless region plagued by marauders, and magmatic border friction where three major star powers met. Orions and Klingons frequently patrol the area for their own purposes, as do a number of opportunistic Ferengi. A roaming lightway conduit is north of us, nearest Romulan space."

"Sounds a bit like Free Cloud," Victrix said almost with a cringe reaction and facial expression. "Is there anything of worth in the triangle? Any planets that come up using your algorithms?" she inquired, not knowing much about the region in question. "How far is the Mintaka system from the areas we are looking at?"

"Combing through this region will be akin to taking a brush to a desert. It will take time to filtre through, even for a Starfleet computer. There are at least several hundred planets in the region. At least thirty of those support life comfortably, however not all support known communities, but a few could be rendered borderline habitable beyond the known ones. I should have more information in a few hours."

Filtering down the index, he outlined four sub-regions within the Triangle itself. "We will want to investigate the Turnstile; four notable planets are in the area supporting a micronetwork infrastructure. Baker's Dozen, Iks, and Mantiev Colonials represent several other minor factions within the Triangle, although most systems are unaffiliated with any major power."

His ears twitched, mildly disappointed upon the mention of another system far removed from their own position. "Mintaka is far across the opposing end of Klingon space. A good week or two from our present location at high warp. The most notable nearby planets you may be familiar with are Khitomer and Nimbus. Neither are in the Triangle, but within reach."

"You'll have to forgive me Rhydian," she said gently with as soothing of a tone as she could muster at the moment. "I do not get out much. I spent most of my years in Starfleet looking at PaDDs and dispersing them. My years after have been practically on holo communique, subspace transmissions, and sitting behind a desk talking career decisions with the retired and reservice personnel" she explained. "I was not even entirely sure I knew what a Braidan looked like until I laid my eyes on you."

She shook her head mildly amused and disappointed in herself. What am I even doing out here. I'm disconnected from the Federation and cutting through former Romulan space, sticking my hand in various places hoping not to get bit by anything she thought to herself. "Focus on the Baker's dozen and see what you can find in there. I won't rule out Vashti either. Keep working on it and send me an updated list of planets when you have cut it down a bit more."

He could only shallowly nod. "I'll see if I can get us clearance to enter their space. While I don't expect the captain to be on Vashti, Qiris is most certainly worth looking at. It may grant us some insight to the local area, and an update on dated information, if nothing else." Features of his expression softened, looking over his superior's ambience, sharpening only upon the use of his forename. "Not everyone specialises in exploration, commander."

Expressly dismissing the notion before he grew agitated, he laid out a data table over the projection, flicking it to his console before uploading it to another PADD. "Three immediate candidates for surveying. It may be some time before we locate him, however I have the utmost confidence we will." Retrieving the second PADD, the cadet walked over, extending it with two palms rather than his earlier side manoevure to do so. "Given your permission earlier, I will confer with our own resources and likely the ship's psychologist to further filtre our search."

She had realized what she had done immediately after she had done it, but it was done. She could not undo it, but she could apologize. "I'm sorry," was what left her lips. She did not explain what she was apologizing for and made no more mention of it. Her hope was that the simple act of an apology would be enough to dig her out of the grave enough. "I agree with your assessment about Vashti. Stillwater may have been supportive of helping the Romulans, but he wouldn't find much peace on Vashti. Continue with whatever resources you need to."

Contrasting the heat built upon his ear tips, Rhydian's facial expression drew taut if not neutral. "Let us please focus on the task, commander," he said quite plainly, acknowleding the apology although his tone had shifted notably. It wasn't rude, but there was a faint accent of sharp-tipped shortness blended into tense professionalism. "You will have an update on your desk within several hours. You know how to reach myself and the chief if we are needed."

"Very well," she said swiftly. She was not going to dwell on it any further. "On my desk within several hours. I'll review it and proceed from there. Good work gentlemen" Victrix added to them both as she was on her way out.

 

Comments (1)