A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

Posted on Thu Sep 16th, 2010 @ 11:27pm by Captain T'mpest Michaels

1,795 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Stealth
Location: Intel Office
Timeline: Current

ON

T'mpest hadn't stayed long at the party. Even though she'd been on the Ranger for several weeks, she still felt like a newcomer and didn't quite fit in.

So, knowing that Lieutenant Zhukov would be by at some point, she retired to her office.

"Sammi," she said as she walked inside. "Pull up the data on the QAR, the ship we found and the starbase. I'll be adding data from the starbase and I want to see if we can come up with any answers."

The plush pig nodded and wagged his tail as he began to process the data.

While he worked, T'mpest went to the replicator and got herself a glass of juice and sat down on her couch. "Computer, play Michael's Scottish Songs, half volume." She sat back to enjoy the music while she waited.

When 0100 came and went, T'mpest decided the Lieutenant would not show up that night and headed to her quarters.

====

Zhukov was beginning to sober up some. Four vodka tonics was three to many...he had to remember that next time. Vladimir had gone to his quarters, taken a nap, showered, changed, had a bite to eat, and was going to bring the data he gathered from the Starbase sensor logs to Lt. Commander Michaels quarters.

"Computer, what is the current ships time?" he asked.

The computer replied, "Current ships time is 0745 hours."

He had plenty of time before he had to go see the Captain.

Vladimir took the data stick off his dresser, put it in his hip pocket, and made his way over to T'mpest's quarters. It was only just down the hall, and he was at her door in about a minute. He pushed the chime button.

T'mpest had just finished reading her morning reports and was preparing to leave for her office when she heard the chime. "Come in," she said.

Vladamir strolled in with a smile and his hand extended. "Good morning, T'mpest." said Zhukov as he shook her hand. He reached into his pocket and handed her the data stick.

"These are all the internal and external sensor reading from 12 hours before the QAR takeover of the Starbase until about 5 minutes after we regained control of the station and deflected the energy pulse." he said as he handed her the data sticks.

"Thank you," she said, taking the data stick. She walked over to her computer and uploaded the data. Then she pulled out a data rod of her own and inserted it, selecting several programs.

"Salem," she said, looking over her shoulder to a black cat. "Contact Sammi. Tell him the data is loaded. I'd like the two of you to see what you can find. I'm specifically looking for events on the starbase and how they correspond with the events on the QAR ship. Tag the progress of events and give me a chronological listing."

The cat nodded and sat on her desk, facing her monitor.

"Oh, Lieutenant, meet Salem. He's an AI. He generally works from my quarters. Sammi works from my office."

Zhukov nodded and smiled at the small creature. "I apologize for not coming by sooner, but Commander Drake and I kind of got carried away last night. It was one song after another and by the time we left the party it was well after midnight and I didn't want to wake you. I'm usually NOT late you know." Vladimir said.

As he was making his apology, the small AI's eyes lit up. Had it found something?

T'mpest raised an eyebrow. She didn't know him well enough to make a comment on his habitual promptness or lack thereof. She sat down at her computer and began to look over the data.

"It looks like the QAR ship was the catalyst, but the starbase was the main focus for igniting the nebula. The holograms moved the inhabitants to a few key locations to control them and to reduce power consumption. That allowed them to divert more power into the beam sent to the QAR ship. If it were successful, it would have caused an explosion that would have rendered this sector of the galaxy uninhabitable for several generations."

Vladimir peered over T'mpest's shoulder, looked at the screen, and shook his head. "So the energy beam that I dispersed on the station came from the QAR ship?" he asked. It was beginning to make a little sense. "Is that the same beam that damaged the Ranger?"

"But why destroy the nebula? Why contaminate the space? I wonder what their motive was." Vladimir said out loud, not expecting T'mpest to know the answers as he stood back up, his left hand rubbing his chin, his right hand firmly planted on his hip with his elbow bent. "Does Salem have any ideas?" he asked.

Salem looked up at Zhukov and shook his head.

T'mpest turned to look up at Vladimir. "There were two QAR ships in the nebula. They attacked the Ranger. As for why, I'm not sure. Something to do with control. Control of the trade and politics in the sector. The information I have is vague. Up until now, they've run mostly on the shady side of the law. Nothing overt, but they seem to have their fingers in a lot of pies." She paused for a moment. "Did you hear or see anything unusual in the last month or two?"

Zhukov took a moment and tried to remember. There were literally thousands of vessels that came and went from the starbase in the few weeks he was there on duty.

"Nothing really stands out in my mind." he said bluntly. "However, I so remember one of the officers from another shift tell me about something odd that happened." he said. "He told me that two ships had docked within minutes of each other, had moved cargo from one ship to another, then departed without ever checking in with the cargo master on duty." Vladimir said. "We were never able to determine the identity of the cargo containers either since they had some type of metallic shielding around them the sensors couldn't penetrate, and the ships left before we could get an inspection team down there."

"Um...Salem...can you access the starbase logs for Stardate 64855.5?" Zhukov asked the AI cat. "That would be about the right date." Vladimir said. "Find the two ships and cross reference them with the computer ship identification database."

Salem's tail twitched as he looked at the console. After a moment the logo for the starbase appeared on the screen. Data began to scroll across the screen. T'mpest inserted a data rod and entered a few keys to help get through the security protocols.

"There should be security video," she said as she and Salem worked together. After several minutes, an image of people loading cargo off one ship and onto another appeared on the screen. "Is this it?" she asked him.

Zhukov's eyes got big. "Yes, yes it is. This was three days before the station takeover. Look at those markings on the cargo container." Zhukov said to T'mpest. "Looks like Cardassian markings." he said. "Can we translate it?" Vladimir asked.

Cardassian wasn't one of the languages she knew, so she looked to Salem. "The word translates, loosely, to muckraker," the cat said.

"Of course, Bisnimol!" said Zhukov. "Slightly modified, it can be used to make very small, very powerful magnets." he said. "I used to play with the stuff in my advanced chemistry class at the Academy. Now, this begs the question, what the hell did the QAR need small, powerful magnets for?" he asked. It seems like they were creating more questions then finding answers.

T'mpest raised an eyebrow. "What would need small magnets on a starbase? They would need to interfere with something, or react with something." She shook her head. "They aren't strong enough by themselves to affect the computers. Could they be used with the holographic programs in some way?"

"I think so. I remember reading a study one time about placing small high powered magnets near holo-emitters. They didn't reach any definite conclusions about what happened, but it seemed to scramble up the data a bit" he said. "I'm curious to know if they used the magnets to interfere with the station sensors. You know, masking their presence until they were right on top of us?" he wondered allowed.

"That makes a lot of sense," she said, nodding. "It would give them an added element of surprise."

The two continued to pour over the data for the next hour, often finding possible hints, but also raising more questions then they answered. The entire operation, from start to finish, was just so unusual. The Ranger seemed to be in the right place at the right time to frustrate the QAR plans. Looking closer at a starchart of the area, Zhukov began to put a few pieces of the puzzle together.

He finally pulled up a map of the Paulson Nebula, highlighted a few systems, and looked at T'mpest. "Look here, this is interesting. Let's just say, we contaminate the Paulson Nebula and render it uninhabitable. Where does the cargo traffic have to be re-routed?" he asked, knowing the answer.

"Here," he said pointing to Starbase 97, "The station traffic would have increased by almost 50%, and most of the ships would have to have run right through the Linares system." Zhukov said. "Right at the heart of the QAR." he concluded. So, if they controlled the station, then they had a virtual stranglehold over almost all the commerce traffic in this part of the galaxy." said Vladimir. It would have been devastating for the shipping in the area, and it would have taken Starfleet months to figure out what was going on. "By the way, what time do you have?"

"0910," she said, not looking at her chronometer.

"Damn it. Sorry, T'empest, I have to go. My meeting with Captain Halliwell was supposed to start ten minutes ago." said Zhukov as he grabbed his data rod and went darting out her door. "Let's catch up again soon!" he almost shouted as he ran out to door down the hallway to the turbolift.

"Thanks," she said, but he was already gone. His help had been invaluable and she'd enjoyed working with him. Although she didn't put a lot of stock in his parting comment. Most people avoided Intel officers and most didn't want to spend time with Vulcans -- even half Vulcans. Combine the two... She brushed the thought aside. "Come on, Salem, let's see if we can find anything to corroborate the Lieutenant's theory."

OFF

Lieutenant Vladimir Zhukov
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Ranger

Lieutenant Commander T'mpest Michaels
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Ranger

 

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