Mysterious Orders

Posted on 29 Apr 2013 @ 8:51am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Petty Officer 1st Class Siren Hex Saalm & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Lieutenant Commander Amynta Markos & Warrant Officer Evan Kell

1,556 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Captain's Quarters
Timeline: MD 07 - 0355 hrs

[ON]

Sitting at her desk in her quarters during the middle of the night, Lirha pulled her sleeping robe tightly around her body and rubbed her upper arms to quell her shivers. It was early in the morning, about three hours before she was scheduled to report to her duty shift, yet she had been rudely awakened by the constant chirping of a pending classified communique. The conversation with the Intelligence admiral had been brief yet also worrisome, and she had received new special orders to depart from her ship in the next few hours. Sighing to herself with frustration, she tapped her console's comm button and summoned the required people to her quarters in order to brief them.

"Commander Holliday, Crewman Hex, Warrant Officer Kell, and Lieutenants Rice and Markos...please report to my quarters." she said in a soft voice.

Amynta sighed as she got off the sofa...she didn't put on a uniform, finding it would take her longer than just going there in the dress she had been wearing. She hoped the Captain would see her wanting to be on time as a sign of disrespect because of the lack of uniform. She rang the chime, waiting before walking in, her eyes going to the Captain. "Captain Saalm..."

Siren Hex had been in bed. She moaned as she ran a hand over her red hair, pushing it off her face to look at the chronometer. 03:55! She groaned, letting her face drop into the pillow for a moment before half pushing herself up. "On my way," she replied to the Captain, hoping she didn't sound completely muffled. She rolled off the bed and grabbed a uniform, pulling it on awkwardly. She caught hold of one of the chopsticks on the table, using it to twist her long hair around before planting it in the twist to keep it pinned up, all while walking down the corridor, still groggy and wincing at the bright light just the same. She arrived after Amynta, taking a breath. "Captain - Lieutenant - "

Having only gotten off of shift three hours ago, John was less than impressed to find himself being woken up by the comms. Nevertheless, with an order from the captain he had no real choice other than to grab his uniform and head towards her quarters as ordered. As he entered the room, there were already other members of the crew present.

"Captain...reporting as ordered."

Aria rushed in, wearing loose pyjama bottoms and a tight tee shirt, her in bunches and her makeup slightly smudged. She stpped when she saw the rest, watching them for a moment before taking a breath. "Here...sorry..."

Kell entered the room after Rice, dressed in a wrinkled grey uniform. He straighted out his shirt. "Morning," the Capellan said, missing his coffee.

Lirha nodded to the recently-arrived personnel and motioned with her hand towards the couch. She looked sleepy and her hair was a mess, but her personal appearance was the last thing on her mind at the current moment. "Thank you all for coming on short notice, please have a seat. I have just received a coded transmission from Starfleet which I must inform you all of."

Kell didn't interrupt, only gave a nod to show he was listening and waiting for her to continue.

Hex tilted her head, a frown appearing on her features, but they still managed to also look curious. Coded messages that had the Captain waking up in the middle of the night, and calling a mostly all Intel team in so hastily, couldn't be a good thing.

Coded transmissions usually meant only one thing - Starfleet wanted to pass something onto a senior officer without the ear of the general crew getting in the way. Perking up in his chair, Holliday sat forward and waited to hear more from his CO.

Lirha moved and sat down in her desk's chair then swiveled around so she could face the group. "Fifteen minutes ago, I was notified of a fluid situation currently developing back at Starbase 185 which could potentially affect our current efforts in the region. The circumstances of the situation are classified, level ten authorization only." she explained, casting an apologetic glance to her XO. As much as she would have loved to tell him the details, his security clearance did not exceed level 9.

"My expedited presence has personally been requested back at SB-185 along with a small intelligence team of my choosing. This means that the four of you," Lirha glanced at Rice, Hex, Markos and Kell, "will be coming with me for a few days. Lieutenant Rice, you will be providing security for us. And commander," she turned to John, "you will be in charge of Galileo during my absence. I expect us to be gone for four days, possible longer depending on the circumstances."

Sighing and rubbing the fatigue from her eyes, she continued with her final instructions. "We will be departing Galileo in one hour, at 0500. We will transport over to USS Venture where Captain Sutherland has a runabout waiting for us, and then we will proceed to SB-185. You will all be briefed along on the way on a need-to-know basis. Any questions?"

Kell leaned against the back wall, folding his arms languidly against his chest. "Understood, Captain," he said regarding the rest of her briefing.

Aria looked at her before smiling weakly, shaking her head. "I am going to ask the really boring, stupid question that has nothing to do with the mission," she said and looked at them. "Is this us going officially as Starfleet personnel, or do you want us dressed as civvies?" Because of the high security clearance, she was unsure if it would even be 'on the books'.

John frowned at the mentioning of level ten clearance - usually there was very little that the captain could see that she didn't entrust to her XO - if it was coming through from Starfleet at such a high encryption level, it was certainly something of extreme importance - with the captain's background in Intel, it was probably even more involved that the XO understood. On the upside however, it gave him some more experience in the big chair.

With a possible transfer to a new starship on the cards, John relished the opportunity to step up and gain further command experience. Either way, if he stayed or went, it gave an extra feather to his cap.

"The Galileo will be in good hands ma'am...I promise."

"Excellent." Lirha replied to her XO with a tired smile, then turned her attention to Aria. "This will be an official assignment yet also off the record, so please wear your duty uniform. We will be representing Starfleet therefore I see no reason for subterfuge." she answered to the best of her knowledge.

"Shame, I like subterfuge," Amynta said and looked at the short Security officer before smiling. Okay, she was just adorable. She took a breath as she watched Lirha, studying her. She had no questions. But she was sure she would enjoy this.

"And if the crew ask where their Captain has gone ma'am?"

John replied, he was quite happy to take command, but if people started asking questions he needed to know he wasn't about to put his foot in something he shouldn't.

With a shrug and a tired smirk, Lirha shook her head. "You may tell them as much as I have told you; that I have been called away for a few days on an important assignment. Beyond that...they should not be asking anymore questions. It would be," she paused to recall the Earth term, "'nosy'."

"Very well." John replied simply, beginning to think his way through the change of the command structure, at least temporarily. With the captain off the ship, and then Coleman planning a short trip away, the XO chair would be occupied by someone outside the usual senior staff.

"I'll make sure not to scratch the paintwork."

"Yes, that would be nice. Especially after the Corps of Engineers just spent two weeks putting our ship back together." Lirha answered with a tiny grin.

Kell stretched out his fingers and tilted his head, remaining silent. It had been a long time since he'd been out in the field. The realization still took some time to embed itself emotionally in his Capellan brain. Once it did, he knew he would feel anticipation.

"If there are no further questions, you are all dismissed." the captain said after a long silence. "Get some sleep, commander, and report to Alpha shift in my absence. Everyone else, meet me in Transporter Room One in an hour." she ordered with a curt nod to everyone assembled. Reporting for an away mission in the middle of the night was not ideal, but sometimes it was necessary during the career of a Starfleet officer.

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Warrant Officer Evan Kell
Intelligence Officer, SFI
USS Galileo

CMDR Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Aria Rice
Assistant Chief of Security
USS Galileo

Crewman Siren Hex
Intelligence
USS Galileo
(PNPC: Lt JG Scarlet Blake)

Lieutenant JG Amynta Markos
Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

RSS Feed