Past Prologue, Part 3
Posted on Mon Feb 11, 2019 @ 10:00am by Commander Caleb Ryan
982 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
Things Past
Location: USS Winchester
Timeline: FLASHBACK: 2375/Near the end of the Dominion War
Once he had cleaned up and gotten some coffee, Artemis headed for the bridge. Lieutenant Ivanova was already waiting by his ready room door.
“Captain,” Lieutenant T’Eden said, standing from the command chair.
“At ease, Lieutenant,” Pierce said. “I’ll relieve you in a few minutes.” He looked to Kees at the conn. “Ensign Mira’ni has the new course. Make best possible speed,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” the Vulcan acknowledged as Pierce headed into his ready room followed by Natalya.
“You got the new orders?” Ivanova asked.
“Yes. Have you read them?”
Natalya frowned. “No,” she said. “They’re encrypted and I don’t have the access.”
Artemis raised his eyebrow and took the padd she handed him. He looked it over and then gave his authorization code, which unlocked the data packet.
Natalya didn’t look pleased. She held out her hand for the padd.
“Shouldn’t the captain read his orders first, Lieutenant?” Pierce queried.
Ivanova gave a frustrated grunt and crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently until Artemis handed them over. Her eyes widened with surprise as she read through them.
“They can’t do this! That project—“
“Is apparently no longer needed now that we’re winning the war,” Pierce said. “I told you the time would come when people would start covering their arses, Natalya,” he said.
The Section 31 operative scowled.
“So what is it Section 31 is researching?” Artemis asked, taking back the orders. “Another mutagenic virus?”
“I don’t know,” Natalya said.
Artemis frowned. “Islington implied you did. I told you I don’t like playing the marionette.”
Ivanova gave a frustrated sigh. “Look, Section 31 is fragmented by necessity. That way no one agent can compromise the whole organization,” she said. “I am not privy to everything we are doing. Hell, Captain, I didn’t even know Admiral Islington was involved until you told me!” she said. “How did you even know?”
Artemis just smiled. “Let’s just say I started on my insurance plan before I even took this assignment,” he told Natalya. “So you don’t know what is at this station?”
“No, and Islington may not even know,” Natalya admitted. “I knew of its existence, vaguely,” she said, “but no details. I just got the impression it was important.”
“Well, apparently no longer,” Pierce said. “This war is winding down quickly. The Cardassians have already revolted against the Dominion and there aren’t enough Jem’Hadar in the Alpha Quadrant to hold the border, much less engage in offensive actions. This may well be our last mission.”
“The Federation will always need us,” Natalya insisted.
“Yes, but will they understand that, Lieutenant?” Pierce asked, suddenly tired, and not from interrupted sleep. “Once the Dominion threat is ended, Starfleet will return to its exploratory mission. The threats will still be out there, but the guard dogs will be leashed and muzzled. We were a flash in the pan, Natalya, here for the brief moment of necessity and flung aside when the need has passed. Maybe there will be another threat in the future that will convince them to loose the hounds again, but until the Dominion came along, there hadn’t been such a threat to the Federation since the Klingon Wars a century ago.”
“You make it sound so…depressing.”
Artemis shrugged. “Only if you can’t carve out for yourself another place in the galaxy.”
Natalya considered that in silence for a long while before she said, “I’ll go get with Lieutenant Hon’gha and go over the star charts and information we have on the Omicron Nebula and the Badlands,” she said.
Artemis nodded. “Dismissed, Lieutenant,” he said.
When Ivanova had left, Artemis went to his wall safe. He pulled out an isolinear data rod. He stared out the window, tapping the rod against his lips for a long moment. Finally he slid it into a slot on his computer.
“Computer, open a secure channel. Bajor. Captain Jack Pierce.”
The image of a handsome young Marine soon appeared on the screen.
“Arty!”
Artemis winced at his older brother’s use of his nickname.
“Jack, I’m sending you an encrypted data burst. Keep it safe for me. You’ll know the key if you need it.”
Jack grew more serious. “Something wrong, Artemis?”
Artemis shrugged noncommittally. “Let’s just say it’s something for a rainy day, okay, mate?”
Jack nodded. “Take care of yourself. And call Mum and Dad.”
“I will. You keep your head down.”
Jack nodded and Artemis sent the data burst and cut the channel. He replaced the isolinear rod into his safe and headed for the bridge.
****
After leaving the captain’s ready room, Natalya headed for the ship’s very small science deck. While in the lift, she said, “Pause. Reroute,” and she headed for her quarters. Her computer terminal powered up as she approached.
“Secure channel, Starfleet Command. Admiral Islington.” She gave out a string of Section 31 encryption commands.
The cherubic face of the Starfleet Intelligence admiral appeared a few moments later. “What is it, Ivanova?” he asked with a scowl.
“I think Pierce might be becoming a problem,” Natalya said. “He knows more than he’s letting us see.”
“He always was a smart one,” Islington mused.
“I could arrange something on this next mission,” Ivanova offered.
“No,” Islington said sharply. “No, we have plans for Captain Pierce. For now, just observe. Everything will work out in time.”
“Yes sir,” Natalya nodded, reaching out to cut the channel.
TBC
Captain Artemis Pierce
Commanding Officer
USS Winchester
NPC Caleb Ryan
Ensign Keesmaat Mira’ni
Flight Officer
USS Winchester
NPC Caleb Ryan
Admiral Esteban Islington
Starfleet Intelligence/Section 31
NPC Caleb Ryan
Lieutenant Natalya Ivanova
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Winchester
NPC Caleb Ryan
Lieutenant T’Edan
Chief Operations Officer
USS Winchester
NPC Caleb Ryan
Captain Jack Pierce
Starfleet Marines
NPC Caleb Ryan
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