Down to Business

Posted on Thu May 4th, 2023 @ 9:08pm by Commander Steven Greco & Lieutenant Commander Keishara Davaris & Lieutenant Evelyn Stewart
Edited on on Tue May 9th, 2023 @ 2:51am

3,038 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Prologue: Centre Predominate
Location: USS Moore - War Room
Timeline: MD 4: 1300 hrs

Commander Greco had sent orders to the senior staff to arrive at the War Room for a formal briefing on the situation and what the Moore's official assignment was. He was well aware that news of what happened in the Glintara system had already spread throughout the Federation news system and most of the staff was undoubtably aware of the refugee crisis, but it was important the crew understood what was going on and what was at stake.

Moving to his chair, what would be the captain's right of the large conference table, Steve sat down as he reviewed the latest reports of looting of supply reserves and research stations amongst the Federation colonies. Resources were being stretched beyond their capacity limits and many of the newer colonies were not prepared to have their regular shipments of supplies being delayed.

Stryvek saw the request for the staff to convene for a briefing. While the request was needed, had Stryvek been human he may have been angered that the request did not go through him first. He walked into the Conference room as he held a cup of steaming Vulcan tea. He took his seat at the head of the table and turned to the XO. "Commander in the future please notify me of staff meetings before you summon everyone else." The statement was made in the empty room so no one else would know. It was also made devoid of any inflection or emotion. Simply a statement of fact, of this is how it should always be,

Steve set his jaw and let out a huff before nodding his head. “My apologies, Captain. I didn’t want to disturb your…meditations, or ruminations, whatever they are actually called.”

He was used to his last captain being considerably hands-off. Steve was used to conducting senior staff meetings, mission briefings, and general running of the ship.

Kei walked into the room and could sense the tension and frustration long before she walked through those doors. She chose to ignore it, it was hardly her business. "Afternoon, what calls for a meeting during our Terran lunchtime?" She asked as she sat down to the left of where the Captain would sit. She didn't expect a real answer, she was just poking fun at the time and looking to defuse a little of that huffy air.

Stewart followed in shortly Keishara. She noticed so far it was just the uptight first officer, the unpredictable and emotionally unstable chief of security, and the Vulcan. Each of them had their own issues with her already.

“Fantastic…”, she muttered under her breath to herself before taking her seat.

Amarok, wearing his lab coat over his uniform which still kind of didn't feel right, entered and scanned the lounge. He sat in a chair that was one empty away from the others but close enough that he could hear comfortably. He had been in the labs and almost lost track of time.

As he sat there for a moment took a deep breath and prepared himself for any Romulan related activities to be discussed. Amarok was kind of glad the Romulan Star Empire has been brought to ruin, for all they have done to him, his family and friends.

Once the crew was assembled and seated Stryvek turned to Greco. "Commander since you called this briefing care to start it."

Greco nodded as he moved to the console on the far wall. "Afternoon, as you all know Romulans are fleeing their space into Federation territories. I don't need to tell you of the reports of the core worlds being overrun and if a solution isn't found soon they will soon become overpopulated."

Steve tapped a few controls and a display of the region along the Neutral Zone and a vast web of disorganized routes taken by civilian refugees to core worlds being displayed. "We have been tasked to add the civilian URC to help mitigate this problem." He commented, tapping the controls again showing a more organized network of routes broken up into three distinct regions.

Pointing to their course, the Commander explained. "The Moore is scheduled to rendezvous to our core convoy of civilian ships in this sector in eighteen hours. At that point, we will escort the convoy to the Solomon system. The ships join the Federation colony there on the fourth planet."

The display changed to show the direct route leading to fourth planet in the system only eighty light-years from the Bajoran border where the Federation already established a colony six years prior.

Steve turned to the senior staff to address them directly. "From there our orders are to help unload the cargo freighters before heading back to escort another convoy. Any questions?"

"I do advise caution as there could be Tal Shiar among the survivors. Limiting our presence on the refugee ships would be the best course of action." Amarok said in a slightly dispassionate tone as if this was a science experiment.

"We will have zero presence on the refugee ships. They are capable of running their ships. Our mission is an escort mission. We will do just that, escort the convoy to where they need to go. Once there we will unload their cargo and move on." Stryvek made it clear that they would follow their orders and that would be about it.

Greco nodded in agreement to the captain and brought up a schematic of one of the main ships in the convoy. “The captain is correct. This is a URC humanitarian mission. We are only providing protection.”

“Protection from what?”, Stewart asked, looking at the display.

Steve tossed his PaDD on the table as he sighed, his eyes briefly glancing at the Romulan amongst them. “Let’s just address the elephant in the room. I’m sure I don’t have to tell any of you how this crisis has impacted the Federation and frankly the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. We weren’t prepared for this. There are already reports circulating of looting throughout Federation colonies.”

The Commander looked at the assembled senior officers. “There is belief that this can turn into violence as overcrowding and resource scarcity becomes more of an issue. Maybe even within the core worlds. That is to say nothing of the sentiments people already have about Romulans. There is a reasonable threat that people may take matters into their own hands.”

Stryvek cocked a ubiquitous eyebrow. However, before he could interject the XO had handled it well. For the moment the idea that Greco was the emotions behind the Captain chair worked and Stryvek deigned to keep it that way. "Doctor, I do not anticipate the need of your services. Have Sick Bay ready nonetheless. Better to be prepared and not need it, than to need it and not be prepared for it."

Amarok stood. "Commander, I was ten when Tal Shiar soldiers came and killed my parents, their own agents. I haven't been in Romulan space for over thirty years now." He began. "I'm still awaiting approval of my Federation citizenship many years before the Dominion War. My present family and I assisted many during as well as after it, I would never have become a scientist if it wasn't for the Federation, albeit at an arm's length treatment." He gestured at himself.

"I stopped calling myself Romulan ages ago. I didn't do any of the crimes that the Romulans did to the Federation and its people." He gestured at the Executive Officer. "If you feel that you have the right to assign blame for an empire's government and military actions on an individual simply because of their shared species..." Amarok sighed. "Then the Federation is not truly as enlightened as I thought it was." He sat down in disappointment. "I'm sure many of the Romulans in the convoy share my views and my situation though without the benefit of having escaped early in life."

He looked back up at the senior officers. "I am not a threat to any of you nor the Federation. Please believe me, why do I have to pay for the wrongs of others?" Amarok asked them. "I could infiltrate the convoy and learn what I can about whatever you want to know. Maybe even try to calm them down. Though I'm a Scientist not a Counselor or a Diplomat but I am willing to prove myself to Starfleet."

Steve gripped the back of one of the free chairs. “Relax, Mister Amarok,” He said confidently. “No one is accusing you of anything. To be honest, Starfleet is more worried about someone doing something to the Romulans than they themselves.”

He nodded at the Romulan and gave the best reassuring smile he could. He heard whispers of sentiments against Romulans, and Amarok, aboard since they left space dock, but was more concerned for the man’s safety than anything.

“No one is to board the ships.” The Commander reiterated the point. “These are unarmed civilian transports needing escort to their destination, nothing more. There is no subterfuge or hidden agenda. The crews of each ship are more than capable of handling their own vessels and any issues that arrive on them. Understood?”, he asked the officers.

Keishara acknowledged the words of the XO, and tried to not shake her head at the comments of some of the other officers. She had no time for the 'oh woe is me' rubbish people peddled. Most people in their lives had something, and since the war even more so. Kei eyed the Romulan as she did everyone, with suspicion.

After the round of acknowledgments, Stewart decided to move the conversation back to the task at hand. “These ships are capable of warp seven as a maximum speed.” She commented, doing the math in her head. “Solomon is on the other side of the quadrant. It will take us over a week to get there, almost two.”

Steve nodded. “And then we turn around and do the whole thing again.” He confirmed dryly. He understood the lieutenant’s sentiments. It was dull, dry, tedious work that many of the crew had not signed up when they joined Starfleet.

Moving back towards his chair, Steve addressed the room again. “Listen, I realize that this has been a lot and will continue to be a laborious task, with a lot of mixed emotions. But you are the senior staff. I know that Doctor Lorut put in her transfer shortly before we left the Sol system and we are without a Chief Medical Officer. We will make do with the current staff until a new one is reassigned.", Steve said to try and reassure the staff.

"However, I expect all of you to explain the situation to your departments and make sure they understand there is a counselor on board. If they need to talk about any of this, you should be encouraging them to seek out his services.” Greco added with much emphasis that he relied on his officers to be professional.

Things seemed to be on the rise as he saw that the first officer wasn't against him, that was good to know, though Amarok would keep an eye on him. He smirked at the use of laborious, he hasn't stopped working hard ever so it wasn't a problem.

Though it was curious that the Romulans would be a target, unless by the Federation citizenry upon their arrival. He supposed he should see the counselor, lots of feelings to sort through. There was something he could do to help. "Commander, Captain," he glanced at each as he spoke their rank then back to the first officer to continue. "I'd like to request permission to scan the convoy once we arrive, simply to ascertain both ships and crews status?"

Greco turned his chair towards the Romulan, his hand lazily drawing a random pattern on the tabletop. “Starfleet has no actual jurisdiction over the United Relief Council, or their ships. We can’t just go spying on them and their activities.” He explained to Amarok. “That said, I don’t see why routine sensor sweeps of the area would be unwarranted. Captain?”

Steve had mixed feelings about the URC. Their cause was noble, but they were a separate entity not apart of the Federation formally. They answered to no one except themselves. The fact they were encroaching on Starfleet’s role of humanitarian missions had already rubbed some, including his former captain, the wrong way.

"Passive scans are warranted and hereby ordered. However, we are not to interfere or step foot on any vessel that is not Starfleet. As stated our mission here is to escort and protect as needed nothing more." If the Captain had emotions the one he would have right now would be dislike and disdain. This mission was not something worthy of a Starfleet vessel in his mind. However, orders were given and he would see them through.

"Are there any pirate elements at play?" Kei asked sucking the air through her teeth. "You have mentioned looting so is this from people within their own colonies stocking up supplies for themselves or is there any outside element in play? If I was a pirate, I'd definitely be taking advantage of the chaos for some killing, pillaging and raising some Hells."

Steve turned his attention to the tactical officer. “We don’t know yet. It’s too soon to tell. Most incidents seem to indicate the looters are familiar to the area, but if they are affiliated with any criminal organizations…”, Steve just shrugged as his assessment.

Stewart glanced around the table before looking at the first officer. "Does Starfleet Command really believe people in the Federation would really threaten Romulan civilians?" She asked incredulously.

Steve just gave a reluctant nod to the question. "Within the Federation and potentially within the fleet. And more than just threaten. Tensions are extremely high, Lieutenant. I haven't seen it this bad since before the war."

Greco sighed heavily and looked at the security chief and the captain. He was of course referring to the attempted coup by Admiral Leyton in the months leading up to the Dominion War. “Lieutenants Stewart and s’Lovok," he said, turning his attention to the two lieutenants. “You two have your orders. If you have any questions, send them to me directly or we can setup a time to go over them.”

Stewart could read the tension in the room. “Aye, Sir.” She said quietly as she stood and made to leave as quickly as possible, understanding it was best to leave without another word and gesture for Amarok to do the same.

Amarok blinked then nodded. “Yes sir,” he stood and followed Stewart out, though he’d not received any personalized orders but that subtle hint that sensor sweeps of the space around the convoys could mean more then what it appeared to be.

Once Steve heard the hiss of the doors shutting behind the lieutenants, he turned to Kei. "Commander, I want you to have security on alert regarding protection of Mister s'Lovok." He said to her in a no nonsense tone. He had heard the whispers and seen he looks the young Romulan got from much of the crew as much as anyone. "I understand he is a provisional officer, but that doesn't mean he's not afforded the right to the same level of safety as anyone else on this ship."

Keishara nodded towards Steve. She had seen these looks as well and the heightened feelings from the crew as a whole since his arrival. Whether they were related she couldn't tell but sometimes when he came on to the bridge there was a slight shift in feelings. That she knew.

"He is indeed worthy of the same rights as any member of this crew. While the looks he has received are due to some emotional thoughts against his race. I do not believe any harm would come to him aboard this vessel. If you would like to give him a higher security presence should he have to leave the ship that would be logical. However, while on the ship he should be fine." Stryvek was not about to look for enemies around every corner.

Steve shook his head. He thought the Vulcan lacked the depth of understanding of emotions to see that in times of stress, logic usually took a backseat to emotions for many. However, he was the captain. “I disagree, Sir. These are unusual times. But I will defer to your judgement. You clearly know this ship and crew better than me.”

It was Greco’s job as first officer to challenge the captain when the need to do so came up. He did just that and would follow orders and procedures.

"Captain..." Kei began. "I do agree with Commander Greco on this. There have been mixed feelings since his arrival." she watched as he turned his head towards her, eyebrow already mid-arch. "As a compromise I can have his comm. badge and bio-sign monitored for the first few months of his posting here. Having people around him will look like favouritism and probably provoke ill feelings. This way I can assign some crewmen to keep an eye on him from a monitor within the security department itself. If nothing happens then we can remove it with no real exertion... it's not like security is going to be run ragged escorting civilians."

Stryvek was unlike most Vulcan Captains in that he did not force the logic of the situation down everyone's throat. Especially if his officers made a valid point. "Very well Lieutenant. I believe that a person has right to their own autonomy. That said approach the Lieutenant with your plan. If they agree to it and feel like it is needed then you have my permission to proceed. However, if they tell you that they do not want the help then that request is to be honored." He turned to his XO. "Is that a sufficient compromise Commander?"

Steve nodded in agreement. “I think that’s a reasonable measure, Sir.” He grinned at the Captain and Security Chief. He realized they may all be able to work well together.

 

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