An Icy Slope of Sedition

Posted on Tuesday, 6 April 2021 - 5:26pm by Captain Barret Stillwater & Commander Soral & Lieutenant Talarn Zilth & Lieutenant T'Lanna Vali & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley & Lieutenant Raith Kolani

Mission: Operation: Peace or P'Jem
Location: USS Standing Bear | Deck 01 | Briefing Room
Timeline: MD 1 - 13:00 hours

His officers were already assembled around the briefing room table when Barret arrived. He knew they were probably filled with an abundance of questions. Why had they been redirected to Starbase 12 and why had Barret abruptly summoned just the few of them.

"Before anyone jumps to warp, it's not another Synth attack," said Captain Stillwater taking a seat at the head of the table. "We have a problem and they are blue-skinned with twitching antennae."

Lieutenant Talarn Zilth was close behind Captain Stillwater and sat down at the table next to him. The minute Barret mentioned blue and antenna his eyebrows furrowed. “We’re having issues with Andorians?” He was very interested.

Synth attack... the casual reference to an event that destroyed her homeworld and caused the deaths of everyone she knew living there made Kingsley flinch. Fortunately, their tactical officer spoke up and she forced herself to focus on what he was saying and on the actual present time threat. Why would the Andorian’s be a problem? And one that needed so much secrecy. It did, however, put context into their captain’s instructions about crew transfers.

T’Lanna picked up on Alex’s sudden rise in emotion at the mention of the Synth attack, not that it surprised her. She gave Alex a warm smile before looking at Barret. “Whatever it is, I take it that you’ve been sworn to secrecy albeit a handful of chosen people?”

"Yes and no," Stillwater replied. "I had a a very thorough briefing with the Quadrant Commander, some information was heavily classified, but primarily we needed to operate at a much smaller scale to maintain a certain element."

Upon hearing the words Synth attack... Raith was instantly on guard and he looked over at Alex, seeing her flinch in a same such manner. He didn't find the reference funny but also knew that the Captain wasn't joking about the situation either. He continued to listen to the meeting as the conversations continued.

Soral's frustration rose. He knew what was coming. He was, after all, a member of the V'Shar, something that only Alex knew about... well Alex and Grol. He wondered if he should perhaps bring Stillwater into the know. He'd had a meeting with one of his fellow V'shar just hours ago and had been briefed on what Vulcan knew, rumours mostly, some facts. It had been a situation that he'd been following and it had been one of the reasons he'd stepped up his writing and advising that Vulcan leave the Federation. He was now torn. Would Starfleet turn away from this as it had with the Romulans? He sighed. "I take it that the Andorians have finally stopped their plotting and have decided to move against the Romulans and Vulcans?"

Captain Stillwater nodded. "It would appear so, Commander."

T’Lanna’s thoughts went to her father, he was regularly aboard his ship travelling to wherever he was needed. She could only hope wherever he was he was safe.

"The Andorians have been constructing ships off the record, moving them about to unknown whereabouts, and their planetary defence forces are conveniently venturing farther away from their home system." Stillwater paused for a moment. "We suspect they are planning an attack from within, a swift declarative action that breaks them from the Federation."

“But why? And why now?” Kingsley blurted out, glancing at Soral. The children, her mother... she forced the concern for them aside. “And how? Building a large number of ships takes a lot of resources.”

Soral sighed. He knew Alex was worried, but plans were on the way. His half brother working with several V'Shar agent friends would spirit the family away within hours. Their destination? Risa, to a cottage he owned there. They would be safe there for the moment. He had to tell Alex. He'd tried but she'd insisted that they come here first.

Captain Stillwater looked over at Lieutenant Kolani, the Chief Operations Officer. Barret gestured to the man. "Lieutenant Kolani may be best suited to address this matter, but yes it does take a lot of resources to do so, resources the Federation does not quite have at the ready."

Raith looked solemn as he recalled the day that Utopia Planitia was destroyed in the Synth attack. Standing up and moving to a wall panel, Raith called up the losses that were experienced on that dark day and sent a projection to the conference table.

"Unfortunately, the Captain is correct and the reason behind Starfleet being so behind on its resources is due to..." He paused for a moment, glancing at Alex once more. "Due to the Synth attack that destroyed our largest starship construction yard at Utopia Planitia. Since then, Starfleet has been woefully short on starships and personnel, almost to a point where it found itself back in 2367 when the Borg destroyed a fleet of thirty-nine starships."

"Back then, relations were a lot stronger between the Federation members and its allies and it took all of five years to bring the fleet back up to expected full strength with new classes added in," Raith continued.

"Now, with the Federations members not being as close and with relations to our allies...not as strong as they were, the loss of Utopia Planitia made a huge dent in what we can offer. Starfleet starship numbers are just not what they used to be, with ten to twenty-year projections in place to try and replace a yard the size of what Utopia Planitia was." Raith switched off the wall panel projection and returned to his seat having delivered the bad news on numbers alone.

Kingsley offered Raith a small smile, it was a difficult subject for him. In that respect they were kindred spirits. “What are our orders, Captain?”

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Stillwater said appreciatively. He knew Kolani was the right person to speak of the severity. With Kingsley asking about orders, Stillwater took back control.

"Starfleet Intelligence and Starfleet Command are gravely concerned that the Andorians are mounting an attack against the bedrock of the Federation. Earth is on too high of an alert to be a likely target, but Vulcan on the other hand..."

“Vulcan!” T’Lanna looked suitably shocked at the thought of her homeworld, people and her father being in danger. “You really think they’d dare to mount an offensive against Vulcan?”

"Personally, no," said Stillwater. "Andorians can be well..they can be assholes. If they are going to strike, it's going to be somewhere significant, possibly strategic, but attacking Vulcan would be a suicide mission. Nevertheless, Standing Bear is one of the starship's being redirected and rerouted."

"When do we leave?" Kingsley asked.

"As soon as possible," replied Stillwater. "Once I get our new helmsman aboard."

“We will make sure we are ready for departure,” Alex assured him. It would be something to distract her if nothing else.

"Tal," Barret said looking at his Cardassian husband. "Petty Officer Baciami is on leave and off the ship for the time being. You'll need to pick up the slack intel wise and monitor comm traffic."

Talarn nodded. He was suited for the job and knew it. “No problem, Captain.”

Stillwater took a deep breath. "Commander Soral, as it stands, we have two enlisted Andorians serving aboard. One in Engineering and another in Security. We may want to look into adjusting their work details, and keep them away from crucial systems."

"Understood, Sir. If you will stay when the meeting is concluded I wish to speak with you about something."

"Of course." Stillwater nodded.

“Sir.” T’Lanna looked towards Stillwater. “With your permission I’d like to contact my father? I won’t say anything about this, I just... I need to know he’s safe.”

Stillwater's eyes locked onto his ship's Psychologist. "Of course, where is he presently?"

T’Lanna looked at Barret. “An old message from not too long ago said he was going to be in the vicinity of P’Jem. I’m not sure if that’s correct right now I’d have to check.”

"Check on your father. We don't want to sound the alarms just yet, but Federation starships are moving towards Vulcan. The Standing Bear will be at the ready within the system, a watchdog as it seems."

Stillwater looked at the officers he had assembled. "As it stands, carry on readying the starship for departure. I want us at combat readiness. Run whatever drills necessary."

Talarn glanced sideways at the Captain. “Do you suspect hand-to-hand might be on the agenda?” He had to admit that he could handle some hand-to-hand, even welcome it, but he wasn’t so sure that some of Standing Bear’s junior crew were ready.

"I would not rule it out," replied Stillwater, "especially with Andorians" added the Captain.

"Dismissed," Stillwater said calling the quick meeting to an end. At least now his crew were not going into this entirely blind.

Talarn stayed behind.

No sooner were they dismissed T’Lanna was out of her seat and out of the door. She had to know her father was safe, that he would be safe no matter what happened. He was all she had left of her immediate family, she hadn’t even met his new wife yet, that’s if they’d managed to bond yet. She rushed back to her quarters.

"Tal, if you could just give Commander Soral and I a few moments." Barret didn't know what Soral wanted, but he wanted to respect the man's privacy.