Looking to the Fairfax
Posted on Wed Dec 15th, 2010 @ 4:12pm by Captain Elsie Halliwell
1,029 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
Lost Friends
Location: Captain's Ready Room, USS Fairfax
Timeline: Current
[ON]
Captain Richard Northcutt sat in his Ready Room reviewing the latest reports from Starfleet Command. Romulans this, Cardassians that, pirates here, raiders there. It seemed like an endless stream of bad or negative news.
Northcutt muttered to himself, "I've been doing this too long." he said as he set the PaDD down on the desk and rubbed his eyes with hid hands. It had been sixteen hours since he last slept and even then, he had only slept for three hours. This business with the Archimedes was keeping him awake at night.
Why the hell didn't Starfleet let the Fairfax assist the Ranger? His Nebula Class ship had twice the firepower of the smaller Intrepid Class ship and they could cover twice the amount of space looking for leads. Northcutt sighed. Instead of helping, Fairfax was docked at Deep Space Four for a short crew R&R and officer professional development classes. Northcutt knew the BEST development class you could ever get was by actually being in space on actual missions.
"Captain, a message coming into you on secured subspace channel. Should I patch it through to your Ready Room?" the voice asked.
"Yes, Ensign. Thank you." Northcutt said as he reached over and flipped on the screen.
"Captain Northcutt here." he said.
Captain Halliwell looked fondly on the visage of Northcutt on her own screen and smiled as the Ranger hurtled smoothly through subspace to the last known coordinates of the Archimedes. “I hope I’m not disturbing you, Captain,†she said, mindful of both their current situations. “I know that Starfleet has tightened the reigns on who I can request assistance from but with your already prior knowledge of our mission, I didn’t think I was crossing any lines in tasking your advice.â€
Northcutt smiled. "No, no disturbance at all, Captain. How is your mission going?" he asked hoping for good news.
She looked up to him, then away from the screen and then worriedly back. It seemed unusual, looking toward an older, more experienced officer for advice, for courage, when she herself was usually so contained and resilient. But her First Officer’s words wrangled about her ears still, and the thought that maybe Starfleet had offered her the bigger slice of the cake… one that this time she may not be able to manage, played on her mind. They had barely scraped through the last altercation with the QAR, and this time, her pride wasn’t about to knock her own soldiers down.
“We’re just heading to the coordinates now, Captain,†she trailed, still waging an internal conflict as she spoke. “We believe that, perhaps, we have at least identified the culprits. Or at least fear that we have… and my XO has raised weighted concerns about our own position and abilities as a med-range Science vessel should our suspicions be confirmed.†Looking away again, and then then back, Northcutt could immediately notice an almost defeated attitude to the woman. “If we were to request assistance from command, how likely is our appeal to be heeded?â€
Northcutt took a deep breath. "Is this a secure channel, Captain?" he asked her.
“Naturally,†she replied, nodding to him.
"Well, off the record, I can tell you that I'm loosing sleep over this entire matter. I don't think Starfleet has any idea of the destructive potential of this artifact that you're searching for. As for assistance, the Fairfax is about the only ship around that could help, and I'm stuck here for at least 72 hours." he said angrily. He paused and took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"I'm sorry, Captain. Three days is probably the best I can do for you right now. However, I can get in touch with a few of my contacts and might be able to have some additional backup here in a week, or maybe two." he said cautiously.
"Any ideas about who might have done this?" Northcutt asked. He had his own suspicions but was interested to hear what Halliwell and her crew had discovered.
“We believe them to be a band of pirates: the QAR. Small-time crooks with big-time goals and support. We came across them a month or two ago and we barely got out with my ship intact.†She sighed a little, the memories of Starbase 97 flooding her mind. “I’m not willing to put my crew through that danger again, just because Starfleet doesn’t understand the gravity of the players on the board.†Her face saddened as she took another pause. “They managed to take over a working, Federation starbase, Captain. A small Nova class would be trifle. I’d… I’d appreciate any assistance you could offer.â€
Northcutt nodded. "As soon as I can get my crew back on board, we will depart and rendezvous with you at the last known coordinates of the Archimedes." Northuctt stated. "But, again, Elsie, I think the earliest we could be there to assist would be about 72 hours from now." he stated, hoping that he could gather his crew earlier then that.
"We'll take any help we can get," she remarked poignantly, looking upon him as she spoke. "Just... try not to make it too long. But I understand your situation. Once we get to the coordinates, and once we see the 'lay of the land', so to speak, I'll keep apprised."
Northcutt nodded and smiled. "We'll meet you there with all possible speed. Good luck. Nortcutt out." he said as the screen darkened to reveal the starfleet logo. He tapped his comm badge.
"Lieutenant Dawson, recall all the officers and crew immediately. Place us on emergency readiness status. Yellow alert. This is no drill." he said. "I want us ready to leave here in six hours or earlier."
[OFF]
A Joint Post by:
Captain Elise Halliwell,
Captain, USS Ranger
&
Captain Richard Northcutt,
Captain, USS Fairfax
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