Posted by Lieutenant Belle Harper (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Side sim - Captain’s Desk - Daily Brief

Posted by Captain Molly Holloway (Commanding Officer) in Side sim - Captain’s Desk - Daily Brief

Posted by Lieutenant Belle Harper (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Side sim - Captain’s Desk - Daily Brief
Months Ago:

UFP Times
Daily News

USS MONTGOMERY FOUND INTACT

Starbase Halcyon
Jenn Daily - AP

After nearly a decade, Starfleet intelligence officers located and recovered the missing USS Montgomery intact and fully operational. While the exact location and contents of the Montgomery remain classified, Intelligence Officer Lt. Commander Jun Yul said of the recovery, “we have made several interesting discoveries and look forward to learning more once she’s been towed back to Halcyon.”

Under the command of the then-newbie CO Captain Molly Wright, it’s common knowledge that the Montgomery had been involved in an incident that resulted in the deaths of several members of the crew, including the ship’s Chief of Security, Lieutenant Junior Grade Belle Harper. What started as a security breach in a science lab turned into a nightmare scenario with killer creatures around every corner. Taking advantage of the chaos, former Starfleet Admiral Jason Alley attempted to commandeer the ship by implanting a sub-routine which caused the ship to issue a false self-destruct sequence. Though Wright and her crew were cleared of any wrongdoing at the compulsory Court Martial, one can’t help but wonder if the outcome might have been different under a more seasoned commander.

The Montgomery was not destroyed that day but warped away to an unknown location after a ship-wide evacuation. The public was led to believe that the ship was empty when it disappeared, but evidence suggests that that might not be the case. For instance, why were medical personnel diverted to the recovery teams? If the ship was empty, save for bodies, of course, wouldn’t there only need be a coroner? What purpose would a full medical team serve? When asked for clarification, Doctor Walter Pembrose of Starfleet Medical declined to comment.

What discoveries have been made, and when will the public be made aware of what actually happened on that fateful day? Could this result in additional charges against Wright and her crew? Only time will tell. For now, the only thing we know for sure is the Monty is finally coming home.

One can’t help but  wonder if the outcome might have been different under a more seasoned  commander.

Molly’s eyes were trained on the piece, but her mind was not in the room. One couldn’t help but wonder… who couldn’t help but wonder? Ms. Daily? Had Ms. Daily been there? Had Ms. Daily even ever been on board a starship? Learn to command it? Go through the Academy? Holloway bet that Ms. Daily had written the article in the comfort of her own home, without even knowing what life in space was like. Without knowing the stress that came with the job. Without knowing what it was like to lose friends to stupid alien creatures that the stupid Science department had kept under heavy lock and key. Maybe a more seasoned commander wouldn’t have lived with the guilt, knowing that if they had done anything differently, the outcome could have been a different one.

Holloway shook her head in disbelief, wanting to fling the PaDD across the room, but she knew that was not going to do any good. That was not going to bring Belle back. Or the Monty… well… the Monty had been found. At least there was that. Why had no one told her, and she had to know through a news piece was beyond her, but if Molly had to guess, she suspected someone in the chain of command was of Ms. Daily’s opinion that a ‘more seasoned commander’ ought to have done a better job. And therefore, she was not worth being told that the whereabouts of her old ship had been discovered.

Molly sighed, and leaned back on her chair, her eyes glancing from her empty mug to the replicator. She needed more coffee. It was clear that this morning had started the wrong way.

When she came back to her desk, a new steaming cup of coffee by her side, Holloway skimmed again through the rest of the article. The ship had not been empty when it warped out. Belle’s body had gone with it. The lack of closure had been the worst part for most people close to the Monty’s Security Chief. Mr. Harper… well… Molly hadn’t even had the decency to tell him personally that his daughter had died… even though she had spoken to the man a few years before, it still ate her soul to know it. Then there was Calvin… in his quarters at Halcyon…

Closing her eyes, she laid her head in her hands and shook it. She didn’t want to remember. It was in the past, tucked away in the pile of things best left untouched. And she was going to keep it that way, for her own sanity’s sake.

Finishing the article, Molly doubted she would ever know what had been found on the Monty. If no one at Starfleet had had the decency to contact her, even though her clearance put no constraints on her access to the information, there was no reason to believe they would ever tell her. As for additional charges… she doubted. That would have been the one thing anyone would contact her faster than she could read the words on the screen. As for the doctors… well… Ms. Daily didn’t seem to know a lot about what she was talking, so Molly wasn’t going to allow her brain space to entertain her unfounded extrapolations.

There was one thing on which Ms. Daily had been right, though. Whatever happened next, only time would tell. And Holloway knew that, if and whenever that time arrived, she would know.

Without a second thought, Molly placed her empty mug back in the replicator, and walked out of the room, in the only way she knew to become a ‘more seasoned commander’.

---

Today:

Crew Transfer - Incoming

NE Hardy Laurel - Security
NE Jimmy John - Security
Lieutenant Belle Harper - Intelligence

-Chief Intelligence Officer

Molly’s heart did a double take as her eyes glanced over the last name on the list of incoming personnel, but she quickly shook her head to dismiss her thoughts.

She told herself she was being stupid. Belle Harper was dead. Gone. And if she wasn’t, she would probably have been the first to know. Hell… Calvin would have been the first to know, probably before Commander Harper himself. How common was the name Belle Harper anyway?

A quick search on the ship’s computer revealed that Harper was an old surname of Gaelic origin, meaning ‘son of the harper’, and that, judging by the list of important people that shared it, it was still quite used in present day. It was the 250th most common surname in Scotland, in a list of over two thousand entries. Belle seemed to be quite a popular name too, especially since what it seemed to have been the 1500th remake of the old tale Beauty and the Beast (now showing in a holotheater near you!).

Molly sighed. The spark of hope, however brief, was gone. Belle was dead, and she would remain dead, for a long time to come.

The Monty had been back for months now… still under the same secrecy as it had been when the first news were written on the subject. Ms. Daily had moved on to other topics, and so had many other journalists, so there was no reason why Molly couldn’t do the same.

Yet, Holloway stared at the name for what seemed an eternity. She didn’t want to open the officer’s file. She hated meeting someone having a preconceived notion of them, made by a piece of writing put together by some bureaucrat buried deep at Starfleet HQ. She had always preferred their first impressions be made in person, and so far that had worked well for her.

But something seemed to nudge her forth this time. Maybe that glimmer of hope wasn’t gone after all. Maybe, even though the rational part of her brain was screaming at her that Belle was dead, she still hoped that opening her file would reveal the smiling face of her long lost friend. Either that, or she would be looking at the face of a stranger, and her fantasy would die quickly just like she hoped the Monty’s Chief of Security had, many years ago.

Both.

The answer was both.

An audible gasp left Molly’s lips as she opened the Intel Officer’s file, and the picture came into view. The features were very much those of the Belle Harper she had known. And yet, she was looking at the face of a stranger. Her skin was grey and dull… her eyes were cold and emotionless… her hair…

“Gone.” The word came in a whisper.

The longer Holloway looked at the picture, the angrier she became. Was this someone’s sick idea of a joke? Had someone taken an old picture of Harper, altered it to look… deceased, and sent it to her as a prank new member of the crew?

As Molly typed an angry missive to Starfleet Command, a thought popped in her mind. If it was a prank, then there would be no Lieutenant Belle Harper on board, right? The computer would be able to tell her that with certainty.

With a victorious smile on her face, and fully expecting a negative reply, Holloway spoke to the Dresden’s computer. =/\= Computer, locate Lieutenant Belle Harper. =/\=

Holloway, CO

The computer responded promptly. =/\=There is no Lieutenant Belle Harper aboard the Dresden.=/\=

AHA! She knew it! Sitting back down, Molly prepared to resume her missive to Command, reporting the occurrence. Someone among the people responsible for assigning officers to ships was joking around on the job, and this was completely inadmissible.

A few scant seconds passed before the computer chirped again. =/\=Correction. Lieutenant Belle Harper is in transporter room 2.=/\=

-CIO

Holloway’s hands stopped before they even reached the keyboard. What!? How could this be?

=/\= Computer, requesting access to surveillance– =/\= Molly never ended her sentence.

“Never mind…” She completed it. Was she losing it? Was she really chasing down a ghost? It was surely a prank. One of incredibly bad taste, but a prank nonetheless. Whoever was behind it, probably knew how easy it was to locate someone on board and they accounted for that. Even the delay in the computer’s correction had most likely been some extra subroutine that was added in as part of the prank as well.

Molly paused for a moment, reflecting on her own paranoia. What was she even thinking? Was she really that self absorbed to think that someone would go to all these lengths to target her specifically? There were far more important people in Starfleet than her.

And yet, the file, the picture… everything was still there.

Molly sighed. Surely a small trip to Transporter Room 2 wouldn’t hurt anyone…

From the Ready Room, the walk to Deck 5, where Transporter Rooms 1 and 2 were located was a relatively short one. In fact, it was less of a walk and more of a turbolift ride, but for Molly it was still an opportunity to organize her mind.

However, instead of walking into the transporter room and welcoming their new department head aboard the Dresden, Holloway preferred a more… covert approach, opting to stand just outside the room, quietly scanning the officers passing by while pretending to examine the closest wall panel. Hopefully, if the file was real, she would be able to spot Harper in the crowd. If not, she would know that her theory was correct.

All in all, it was an inconspicuous enough move that would make Molly blend in with the background. If it wasn’t for one small detail that she often overlooked – her fiery red hair standing out like an beacon in the middle of the crowd.

Holloway, CO