Posted by Commander Shedda Mal’athar (Executive Officer) in Main Sim

Posted by Fleet Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Main Sim

Posted by Commander Shedda Mal’athar (Executive Officer) in Main Sim
Posted by… suppressed (13) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Three young children stood in front of their house, the eldest, just 13 years old was holding her baby sister who was 1 year old. Her 9 year old brother stood next to them “Abby, what are we going to do?” He asked looking up at his sister. Abby looked down “Well....” And before she could say anything further, their father’s attorney showed up “Children, you’re going to be taken to your aunt’s house.”

Abby looked confused “We don’t have an aunt. .” The attorney looked surprised “You’re mother and father’s best friend. She has the room for all of you.” Mortimer said “now get in the hover craft.” The three children climbed in and sat back, waiting. Their parents had gone missing several years before and they had been staying with the Nanny until she died in the fire. Abby knew that their parents were still alive, she could feel them through their bond, her’s was the strongest of the three children, as far as she knew. None of them knew about the youngest child’s abilities yet. They did know she could be cunning.

USS Manhattan*

It was gamma shift on the USS Manhattan, suddenly there was an incoming message from Star Fleet Command, high priority and classified.

Mouse

OOC: James is on LOA so I’m going to go ahead and take this.

IC: “Cmdr. Incoming message from Star Fleet Command. Classified and high priority,” McGiffin said from the comm station. “Send it to the Captain’s ready room,” Mal’athar got up and strode across the bridge and through the door. She tapped the console to access the transmission as she sat. “Mal’athar-9-4-Upsilon-Gamma.”

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

OOC: Slight edit with Mouse’s permission

On the screen came the dreaded Section 31 logo in the background, the sound of a female sobbing to one side and a male that appeared very frazzled wearing the insignia of a Admiral. He looked at Mal’athar “Where is Captain Cochrane?” He asked sounding more severe than he intended. Closing his eyes briefly he opened them again and gave a weary smile “Commander, forgive me. Are you in a secure location?” He asked looking at Mal’athar intently.

=/\=Cpt. Cochrane is on leave, Admiral. I’m Cmdr Mal’athar, XO. Yes, Admiral I am in a secure location.=/\=

“Good, I am transmitting a set of coordinates to you and you alone. Share them with the Captain and then enter them personally into the computer. These are the coordinates to my home near Event Horizon Station.” He said as the coordinates pinged on the computer that Mal’athar was at. The man continued “I’m Admiral Jefferson Riley. My wife is Liva Riley of the fourth house of Betazed.” He said “Two days ago, we lost contact with our three children, we learned that our housekeeper, Darena Utu, was found dead inside our home that had been set ablaze. Darena was one of my best operatives and she would not have gone down without a fight. None of our resources have been able to find our children. Abby, whose 13, Jefferson who is 9 and Talia who is 1. My attorney said that they received a message from my wife telling them to take the children to someone that we don’t know in an undisclosed location.” In the background his wife could be heard trying to speak through the tears “My babies.”

Jefferson continued “I need the assistance of your ship and crew to find my children, find out who set our house on fire and killed one of my closest friend.” He looked at Mal’athar intently “I am sure you are questioning why I am not using Section 31 resources. I have and thus far everyone they have talked to has not said anything, I am hoping that sending someone, less threatening, for lack of a better term, will gain some insight.” Jefferson sighed “Do you have any questions for me?” He asked

GMM Mousie

“What does station security say, Admiral? And of course the obvious, what enemies do you have that would come to the Delta Quadrant to do this?”

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

Jefferson sighed “They are about as useless as a hole in my head. They say they received a call from my wife which didn’t happen, and now they are considering this a closed case.” Jefferson laughed at Mal’athar’s last question “Enemies, where do I start. I am a section 31 operative. 99% of the Delta Quadrant hates me. Station Security will not allow me to look at the video footage of the incident. They say there is nothing there to see.” He sighed “I could just hack the system, however, I don’t feel like having to answer a lot of questions about why I broke protocol.” He looked at Mal’athar “Please Commander. I am trying very hard not to just start going through the quadrant and raising hell and spilling blood. Those are my children and they are my life.” He added.

He paused “Shall I wait for you at the docking ring?” He asked, more like stating that he would meet the ship at the docking ring.

Devious Mouse

=/\=We’ll be docking in an hour, Admiral. I will disembark with a team immediately.=/\=

Once she was off the comm she tapped her combadge. =/\=Mal’athar to Cochrane. I’m sorry to bother you captain, but this can’t wait. Can you join me in your ready room?=/\=

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

Cochrane was in his quarters packing for a long overdue trip to see his father and step-mother. He was going over the last minute details when the call came through. =/\= I’m assuming this can’t wait until after I get back, Commander? =/\= While phrased as a question, the XO would know it wasn’t. Fleet Captain Cochrane gabe a loud sigh and said =/\= On my way.=/\= and began to change back into his uniform. Less than five minutes later he walked onto the bridge and into his Ready Room. He didn’t so much his glance at the XO, simply sat down heavily in the seat behind the desk and then raised his eyes to look at her. “Ok. Tell me what and who just ruined my vacation.”

Cochrane, CO

Shedda hated having to call him when she knew he was taking a vacation he not only deserved but needed. But if she didn’t tell him, well… she didn’t want to be on the wrong side of Alex’s ire.

“An Admiral Jefferson Riley of Section 31. His wife is Liva Riley of the fourth house of Betazed. Two days ago, we lost contact with their three children. Their house keeper, who was also apparently an opperative, was found dead and their quarters set aflame. His resources have been able to find their children. His attorney told him that they received a message from his wife telling them to take the children to someone that they don’t know in an undisclosed location.” Shedda quickly informed him. “When asked he said he has too many enemies in the Delta quadrant to begin a list. That station security is worthless and won’t allow him to see the security footage. They claim there is nothing useful there and the case is closed.”

“He also said he could just hack the system and see for himself but he doesn’t want to have to answer a bunch of questions. He’s waiting for me at the docking ring when we reach the station.”

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

” Waiting for you? Or waiting for us?” Alex said with a bit of an edge. He then sighed and said “Sorry, Shedda. Just being a bit miffed.” He gestured to the chair in front of the desk. “Ok. Let’s talk.” He leaned back and thought for a moment. “Why us, though? We are a research vessel, not an intelligence asset. And we are certainly not staffed or equipped for clandestine actions. This makes no sense. Agree or no?”

Cochrane, CO

Shedda understood and wasn’t offended, “Well yes us, but specifically me because I told him that you were on leave an unavailable. I was given specific orders by the admiral to tell no one but you. I would have told you anyway; plus I didn’t think you would be too happy if I didn’t tell you before you left.”

“I had the same thought. It makes no sense, and why not use the resources at the Station? We have no authority to take over their investigation. I can’t imagine Cpt Winchester will be too happy about this. We’ve always had a good working relationship with him. I’ve also heard they have a new COS coming in, and what I’ve heard about him, he wouldn’t let missing children go uninvestigated.”

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

Alex was quiet a moment and then said “Did you try to verify any of this with Command? I mean, I understand that he is telling us his children are missing. And I can only imagine the terror and fear and stress that that would cause in someone. But if he’s Intel, he actually doesn’t have the authority to task us with something like this… Admiral or not. In fact if we are to take this on, we would need approval from someone in Star Fleet Science. We have ongoing experiments and surveys to conduct.” He took a deep breath and then added “And I’m not keen on the idea of taking bunch of civilians on an Intel mission.”

Cochrane, CO

“Not yet, I have a request in to them. I wanted to tell you first, before we dock.” Once they docked the Admiral would be waiting. “I’m not keen on it either. I understand we are the only Federation ship here, and that means if they have left the station for locations elsewhere, then it will be us. But we aren’t equipped to handle this type of thing. I was also going to bring d’Aramis in on this. He might have information about this Admiral that could be helpful.”

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

“But we aren’t the only Federation ship here.” Cochrane said with no little amount of exasperation. ” Don’t forget the Vigilante and the Chisca Bay are stationed at Event Horizon. And one would think a cruiser or destroyer would be far more applicable to this issue. They even have Marine contingents on board. We have hundreds of civilian scientists and families. BIG difference.”

Cochrane, CO

OOC: Buhahaha Player error. I thought they were only there to help with construction. Hahaha

IC: He was correct. The captain was always correct. He was also one of the most brilliant Tactical minds of their generation. Maybe that was why the Admiral contacted the Manhattan? The comms chirped, =/\=Commander Science Command is on the comms.=/\=

=/\=Put it through to the Ready Room please.=/\= She was absolutely going to let Alex handle that. Maybe they would say no and then he would disembark for gis vacation?

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

Alex put the call on the wall display. The screen activated and showed a Vulcan woman in a Star Fleet uniform. Vice Admiral pips on her collar, Admiral D’tren raised a hand in a stopping gesture. “Fleet Captain Cochrane. Commander Mal’athar. Before you begin, I can assure you that I have been briefed on the matter. You are cleared to suspend your normal research in order to assist the Diplomatic Corps with their negotiations.” Cochrane ‘s eyes narrowed and he glanced at the XO. Years in Security had taught him many things. One of the most important was when to keep his big mouth shut. “Understood, Admiral. I just wanted you to be aware that our reports will be late… and that I was hesitant to pull our civilian crew members away from their duties for this task.” He stressed the words clearly, and the Admiral simply nodded her agreement. “I understand your concern, Captain. It is shared by myself as well. But the request was approved at the highest levels, so your orders are clear. Return to the Event Horizon station immediately for a briefing. You and the XO will be the only attendees from the vessel.” She was quiet a moment and then said “I wish you success, Captain. Commander. Please contact me at your earliest opportunity. I would like to know how your… ‘task’… turns out. Science Command out.” and the screen went blank.

Cochrane stared at the black screen for a moment… and then swore. Just once, but very emphatically. He looked at Sheddah and said “Well… dammit.”

Cochrane, CO

Mal’athar shared the look with Cochrane at the exchange and when the screen went black she flexed her hands slightly. “Your leave was already approved, I won’t say anything if you want to sneak out the back airlock.” Shedda knew good and well Alex was not going to walk away from the crew with this type of mission sitting in front of them.

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

“Tempting.” he said. He took a deep breath and the exhaled slowly as he stood up. “But duty calls. Let’s go.” He walked around the desk and out the door, stepping onto the bridge and the moving to the Command chair. Taking a seat, he said “Helm, bring us about and make heading to Event Horizon station. Warp factor 6.” He pressed the ship-wide comms and said =/\= All hands, this is the Captain. We have been recalled to Event Horizon. Our stay, unfortunately, will be quite short. Due to the quick turnaround, we will not be allowing any disembarkation save for absolute necessary needs. Everyone will be required to remain at their assigned stations as if we were on deployment. Department Heads, ensure that you are stocked up. No sense wasting the opportunity to top off supplies. Cochrane out. =/\=

Cochrane, CO