The Search for Plot

Posted on Thu Dec 8th, 2011 @ 12:45am by Lieutenant Cedric Shepherd

2,377 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Unmasked Miners
Location: Deck 9, Security Office
Timeline: Immediately following "Security Evaluation", prior to "Reconvene"

As she had with nearly every matter regarding Taylforth, Birsi agreed with Jimmy’s unspoken skepticism toward the likelihood of a showdown with the Romulan Star Empire. It was a long way to send ships in light of the perpetual domestic discord most recently stemmed from its near destruction by the Hobus supernova last year, the defining event of her graduating year. In spite of the Imperial Senate’s initial rejection of his theory, Ambassador Spock achieved a nick-of-time save of Romulus at the cost of his own life with assistance from RMG Narada Captain Nero, the Enterprise, and Vulcan. Frequently sensationalized as the ‘Narendra of Federation-Romulan relations’ by the media, Romulus’ more receptive post-incident demeanor and the energizing of the Unification movement suggested they weren’t far off the mark.

But that wasn’t why Birsi questioned the military deploying to Taylforth. . .at least not by itself. Ambling about in Stellar Cartography an hour after her impromptu tennis match with Lieutenant Cooper, she was waiting for him to wrap up his information-gathering rounds when she unconsciously clamped down what bothered her about the Romulan miners. Mining wasn’t a dubious undertaking in and of itself. Mining ores with no value in one’s home system on the other hand, merited a red flag or two. Grueling and expensive regardless of the backing economy, expeditions weren’t dime-a-dozen ventures anyone could get into, much less sustain. Exposed to many of these tenets by her enterprising guardians, one eventually reintroduced itself in her father’s voice when she reread the contents of the mining ship’s holds.

“A business won’t last long if no one wants what you’re selling. . .â€

Soon afterward, she determined one wouldn’t find many takers for dilithium in Romulan space. The most prevalent resource in that colossal freighter’s holds according to the shuttle’s scans, it, contrary to most other interstellar powers, wasn’t crucial enough to the Romulans’ infrastructure to justify coming all the way out here for. She knew this because their technology, governed by relatively simple, resource-friendly principles, was a subject her adoptive mother often visited. The artificial quantum singularity for instance, their premier power source, helped the Star Empire exhibit a lesser degree of expansionism since it didn't rely on raw minerals to function.

It wasn't as if the Romulans didn't have dilithium, either. Colored by a legacy of ambition that outpaced its resources, the Star Empire's spread galactic east eventually ensnared several ore-rich worlds the Romulan Mining Guild successfully petitioned to move mining operations to in light of discovered that Remus was over mined, and thus at risk of becoming as grand a catastrophe as Praxis was almost a century ago. Contrary to what one might believe in light of the Romulans’ impression of tight state control, quarrying rights frequently fell into the hands of individuals and entities that didn’t directly answer to the military or government.

So why would Romulan miners pass on operating within the security of their state's jurisdiction? And why was their prime choice of mineral their state had plenty of relative to its weak demand? The answers to those questions didn’t come as readily, but rather than spend another hour slogging for answers, an idea evolved into Birsi's current action; leaning into the chime of the Security Office.

"Come in," came the call.

For a moment, the Bajoran did just that. Little conscious thought as she'd given to what she'd find within, her eyes shifted surprisedly about upon realizing that several individuals occupied the room. All were strangers save for Shepherd, whom she sought in the first place. However, their postures and PADDs cast a formal ambience she felt uncomfortable inserting herself into despite figuring her musings were possibly relevant to them.

"I'm interrupting," she hastily thought aloud. "I'm sorry. . ."

"Not at all," Shepherd replied, finishing a sentence on his LCARS screen so he could give her his full attention. "What can we do for you?"

Birsi took a second to re-gather, during which she stepped further into the suite.

"I've been thinking about our Romulan friends since we talked about their reaction to the shuttle in the meeting, Lieutenant," she began in a hushed, thoughtful timbre. "What you said about it makes sense, but there are some other things about them. . .about their operation, I'm having a harder time swallowing."

"Do you mind sharing these concerns in front of an audience?" asked Shepherd, cocking his head to the corner where two more security men sat, one sitting with a leg crossed and a PADD in his lap, the other stretched comfortably in a chair. The smallish mocha-skinned woman sitting just to one side of the desk set her PADD down and folded her hands in her lap to wait patiently.

"We've already had two meetings this morning," replied Birsi after humming in the negative and shaking her head, "and another's on the way. It's probably a little late for stage fright," she finished, smiling faintly.

Shepherd smiled back. "That's a fair statement," he said. "What's on your mind?"

The stellar cartographer brought a PADD, which she briefly rose to study despite having done so several times beforehand in anticipation of this moment. When she was content with her recollection of her notes, she lowered them to her waist. "The main thing is the very idea of Romulans mining dilithium. It's relatively plentiful within their own borders according to Starfleet Cartography, yet isn't essential to their infrastructure since they've developed alternatives for our applications. So it's weird to me that these miners have traveled so far out for something useless, yet easily available to them back at home."

Shepherd opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated a moment, clearly re-thinking his response. "You're not one who doesn't think it through. You have a theory?" he asked, intrigued.

"Well. . ." the Bajoran dragged partly out of surprise with the Security Chief's deference, and partly because she actually hadn't thought it through to the extent she believed she needed to in light of her speculation's failure to catch on in the staff meetings. "It seems to me that this operation is something they don't want the mainstream military or government to know about. Why else go out of the way for resources readily available at or near home? If someone else is going to ride in and defend these guys, I have doubts about them doing it on a War bird."

"That sounds valid," Shepherd said, after a moment's thought. "Romulans don't need dilithium. And if this bunch is operating outside Romulan space, they could be doing it to evade Romulan authority."

"Cash under the table?" drawled the slouching man. "No permits needed to mine in Taylforth, and no proceeds need to be reported. So no messy taxes?"

Shepherd shrugged, thinking aloud, "it tracks. I wouldn't stake much on a bet related to it, though. It's just as valid to believe that this bunch on the moon could call for military aid, and claim we victimized them somehow. The Romulan Star Empire has never been a big proponent of the truth--just what needs to be said to justify action. Would you agree we should still be cautious?" he asked Birsi directly.

"Of course. But the nearest Romulan holding is several days off. I don't know how we square up against that ship, but if I were the captain, it wouldn't give me any comfort knowing that help might not get here until well after I'm space dust."

"So if you were captain, you'd back us off this moon mining business and deal with other matters in-system?"

"I was talking about the mining ship captain, sir." Birsi countered. "If I were him or her, I'd want closer, surer support if I'm going to count on any at all. Assuming they have the Star Empire's ear, it'd still take days just for a transmission to reach their nearest facility. By the time help arrives, whomever they called for help against will have had more than enough time to seriously impede their operation."

"Ah," Shepherd said, "I see what you're saying. And it's a fair point. We can't afford to discount the possibility that they haven't already made a call for aid, but I agree that such help may be a while coming. Assuming, of course, that they're not out here for some illegal purpose, in which case they're going to have to concoct a cover story to feed whatever Romulan fleet elements may respond here. That still leaves us with a 'why', though. Any idea what you do with dilithium besides build warp cores?"

She commenced her reply with a foreboding shrug. "Some cultures use it for ornamentation. Others around the Orion region push it as tender, who excludes them as recipients because a mass supply like this would devalue it big time. That's another reason I'm not so sure about any official Romulan connection; there's nothing they can do with it that justifies these miners, much less the Star Navy coming all the way out. . ."

The young enlistee's delayed, murmured "here" didn't mesh with the finality of the rest of her assertion. Silence pervaded the room as her mind whirled to process the flash of thought that sideswiped her focus, which it'd all but achieved when Shepherd prompted, "yes?"

In turn, Birsi came back on with a risen pointer that was seemingly metronomic to her rapid-fire speaking. "Throw dilithium into an intermix chamber, flick the switch, and it produces trilithium resin over time. We treat it as waste, but it's one of the holy grails of the black arms market. High-yield explosives. . .bioweapons. . ."

"I can't believe I didn't think of that," breathed the small woman to the side of the desk.

"Dilithium is one of the most regulated products in the galaxy," mused Shepherd, working it out. "An unknown and unregulated supply would mean a potential buyer could create this resin without attention from intelligence agencies." He grunted and sat back in his chair, thinking.

"And make weapons capable of wiping out whole star systems in one sitting," Birsi amended through faint laughter. Her amusement toward the deadly potential of the mining ship's cargo was geared at her disbelief of her of all people thinking of it. She didn't do so on her own, of course; her knowledge borrowed heavily from adoptive father, whose occupational specialty in Starfleet was waste and byproduct management. And she arguably would've never thought to delve into it if not for Shepherd's questions. Nonetheless, Birsi took a little pride out of being at the forefront of a fresh, credible perspective. "In '71, some rogue scientist fired a trilithium torpedo into the Amargosa sun, and the collapse shockwave took out everyone and everything that couldn't get the hell out of Dodge."

"I remember that. That was a serious situation," Shepherd agreed. "Well, it bears inclusion in my report. Tell me about immediate threat, though. We've got no scans indicating a warp field operating on the moon. Can we safely assume that they're not doing any refining here? Just hauling out raw product for transport to end-users? Our advice on that will mean a great deal in the Captain's decisions regarding the Romulan moon operation," he added, his tone unmistakably serious, with an ominous undercurrent.

Birsi's brow knitted even as she voiced her musings on Shepherd's key question. "They could double their money by making trilithium in-house. But not only do the Khitomer nations have strict regulations against its possession, so do the Romulans and several other unaffiliated states. If these miners refine it, there'll be a lot of places they can't go without risking getting jailed. All in all, the integrity of their operation is better served by letting the down line worry about the end product."

"You seem to know an awful lot about the market for this highly illegal and unstable substance," drawled the relaxed officer, his tone playful.

Shepherd chuckled, and waved off Birsi's clearly growing retort. "So I can add to my report a reasonable conclusion that, while this dilithium operation could be supplying terrorists, it would be foolish of them to be trying to refine or synthesize trilihium here in-system, and so we don't need to go shoot them all right now to guarantee our safety?"

"Yeah. . .though it'd be dangerous for us to engage them even if we knew they were making it. Depending on the stability and how well they secure their supply, it could be like shooting at a neutronic fuel carrier. One wrong hit might blow them and then some to kingdom come."

"Interesting," Shepherd appeared to be gaming scenarios already. "Well, it'll give the four of us something to talk about for the next 40 minutes or so while I compose this report. What other concerns did you have, Sessan?"

Birsi knew her answer before he even asked. The trilithium detour provided a far more substantial foundation than the patchwork rationale she'd arrived with, much of which was supported by it anyway. As much as she would've liked having a hand at helping further refine it, she was pretty sure her own pre-meeting crunching was coming if it hadn't already. Add her comfort with Shepherd and his people's ability to run with their brainstorm, and the end result was the young Bajoran comfort with pursing her lips and shaking her head. "Nothing I haven't already mentioned, Lieutenant. . .especially since I don't know where the mission goes from here."

"It's always an adventure," said Shepherd, with a nod of sage agreement and a bemused smile. "If there's nothing else, then I need to get back to my report. I assume you're helping Cooper at the briefing?"

“You assume correctly, Lieutenant," Birsi replied before making a retreating step. "In fact, I should get back to see if he's ready to finish our own report.â€

"Then I'll see you there."

Birsi felt a little awkward for answering Shepherd with just a faint smile and a nod, but appropriate words, if there were any, proved less forthcoming than the motions to finish leaving. And those feelings quickly succumbed to another high of pride she rode all the way back to Stellar Cartography. . .

 

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