[snip]

Glen agreed and followed Rogers as he directed to the Briefing Room. “You mentioned several times now about a lack of time. When a man has little time, he must take care to maintain his calm. We must act as if we had eternity before us.” While Glen told him, he looked at his XO, a man who really did have eternity before him.

As the turbolift left the group out onto the Avenger’s bridge they were soon being lead to the ship’s mission briefing room. “..Eternity in some cases waits for no man, Captain..” Rogers said.

Entering the briefing room Rogers indicated to each person present. “..May I present my senior staff. My XO and chief engineer Commander Stark,” Indicating a Deltan male with dark rimmed glasses. Then next”..My Chief Science Officer Junior Lieutenant Parker,” He said to a young early 20s human man, he then indicated another pair of humans, “..Lieutenant Doctor Strange and my Weapons officer Lieutenant Banner..” He said.

Kord gave a polite nod to each as they were named.

Each nodded, “..Greetings Captain, and Commander.” They said in their own ways before taking their seats.

Glen thought their names seemed somehow familiar, but he didn’t think he had met any of them before today. He imagined that the CE was a real tech guy, and he could see that he wouldn’t want to make the Weapons officer angry.

“I am Captain John T Glen of the USS Merrimack,” Glen replied, “and this is my number one, my XO, Kord.” After the formalities were over, Glen took one of the available seats that remained.

Kord gave a slight bow before taking position standing just behind Glen’s right shoulder.

“I’m afraid that you have us at a severe disadvantage, Captain Rogers,” Glen continued. “We responded to a distress call, and we rescued your ship from a firefight with Orion frigates, but there seems to be no immediate emergency anymore, and you have also turned down our offer of medical and engineering assistance. You have certainly piqued our interest in what it is that you mean to propose to us. I’m not at all happy about remaining in this particular location, within this sector, for very long. Both the Orion presence and the high number of small erratic celestial objects in this planetary system, is ringing alarm bells with my own COS, so I’m as keen as you seem to be to get on with this business.”

“Kord,” said Captain Glen discretely, “please sit down, just this once! You know how it makes people uncomfortable. I want this done and over with quickly.”

“By your command.” Kord said quietly and sat to Glen’s right.

The embarrassing lull in the conversation was halted by Captain Glen. “According to our Starfleet briefing notes, Orions are not our only problem out here. There is mention of rumours, from the newly discovered Bolians, of some marauding space pirates that plunder ships for anything of value. They apparently have these gigantic ears. It’s a very strange rumour, but as they say, ‘We’re all ears for what you have to say to us!’ “

”..About a week ago while on our patrol out here Captain, we discovered evidence of what could be one of the most important security and archaeological finds of the past and current century! Tell me have you ever heard of the Fastion Reality Stone?” He asked.

Captain Rogers couldn’t possibly have known, but archaeology was one of Captain Glen’s passions. and he constantly wonders about all these civilisations that were present in the galaxy before we even ventured into space. However, though he would love to do so, he has never been on an actual ‘dig,’ and his experience has been limited to visiting museums such as the Museum of Izurite Antiquity within hanging gardens of Ekkaia, and the Starfleet Museum on Alpha Centauri where he had once seen a Romulan Vrelnec. Yet, despite all his study, he has never heard of the ‘Fastion Reality Stone’ before today.

“The ‘Fastion Reality Stone’?” asked Glen, “No, I can’t say that I ever have! I wasn’t even aware that this sector was being patrolled, though we were told that Starfleet was stepping up it’s response to the Orion aggression.”

Glen looked at Kord, a man who had lived a hundred lifetimes, “Have you heard of this artefact, Kord?”

OOC: GM ruling on this one please.

Kord would have heard rumors of the Fastion people, ancient even in his time a race said to be wiped out by their own advanced technology that rumors said could reshape matter or reality to the wishes of the users.

“You must tell us more about this find,” Glen said. “What kind of ‘stone’ is it? A gemstone? A sculptured rock? Religious idolatry? And who knows about it? if it is valuable, you will have all manner of pirates and thieves come calling on you!”

”..Evidence is mixed on the type of stone it takes, some say its a diamond others of pure dilthium still others say its a mix of nickel and silver ores. The shape,” Rogers said now more excited and sure sounding pressed a button on the table showing on the briefing screen a indistinct rock shaped like an inverted 5. “..Is said to be an inverted 5 in shape. If its real it’s said that the user can reshape reality itself! Think of the power such a wielder could have, you can understand too why such an item is better in the hands of the Federation then someone like the Orions, Klingons or Romulans..” He said.

”..My crew and I haven’t found it yet, but evidence shows it could be in a system nearby called UEP-314 in our databanks. Not much is known other then its got a single class m world in it..” He said.

“Can this evidence be tested for accuracy?” Glen would require some standard level of proof before he allowed the Merrimack to be taken on some wild goose chase for an imaginary artefact. He knew the names of all the living Federation archaeologists so he asked, “Who has verified this find?”

-Glen, CO