Xi'Cadian Fallout

Posted on Tue Dec 17, 2019 @ 9:38am by Captain Maritza Soran & Commander Caleb Ryan & Civilian Melvyn Raddon

1,863 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Doors of Perception
Location: DS5 Commander's Office
Timeline: SD 15 0700

[ON]

"Hilliard Braxton, for the Deep Space 5 command staff," Hilliard said through the viewscreen to the officer at Ops. The man was pacing back and forth in his office, almost to the point of wearing a hole into the deck. The reports were still coming in, but none of them were precise on what happened. The Atlantis had been able to eject a data buoy prior to its destruction, but the Xi'Cadians had managed to retrieve it and bring it to their side of the border before Starfleet could arrive to begin an investigation. Because of that lack of data, Starfleet was merely combing the infinite darkness searching for answers that only the floating corpses could answer. The diplomatic envoy to the sector had been placed in the unenviable position of trying to find out what the hell happened, without inciting a war.

Soran had woken an hour earlier to find a string of reports already in her queue, and had dressed fast, sending them on to Ryan telling him to meet her in OPS. The fate of the Atlantis had wound the whole sector tight. A wrong step could lead to war.

She was walking into OPS as Braxton's call came through. "Put him through to my office. Send Ryan in as soon as he gets here." She went straight up the stairs to her office and ordered coffee before sitting down and taking a breath. She wasn't sure Braxton wasn't part of the whole pro-Human movement. Would he use this situation to inflame things further?. "Computer? On screen."

"Commander Soran," Braxton said, as the Starfleet officer's face appeared on his screen. "We have an emergency that is bordering on a crisis on our hands," he began. "As I'm sure you're aware, the USS Atlantis was destroyed in a confrontation with the Xi'Cadians yesterday. Over 340 lives were lost, including six aides to Council-member Tossen of Earth," he emphasized. "We've reached out to the Xi'Cadians for their investigative findings, but we've been stonewalled," he added.

"Deep Space Five is the largest military facility to the border, so this has fallen into your lap, just like the Sviriki situation," he said, referencing the prior fiasco.

That didn't fall in my lap. It was thrown there like a turd because your ilk wanted to take pot shots at the Cardassians. "Will they let us recover the debris?" That was the first order of business, try and reconstruct what happened. "I've read the captain’s file. He didn't seem to be naturally inclined to pick fights with less capable enemies."

Braxton pressed a button on his desk, and it brought up a small satellite. "This is Xeta Station. It is a class-4 sentry satellite that previously served as a communication relay. It's usage was decreased as the Federation was able to upgrade Xi'Cadia's global communication grid. We have reason to believe that it was able to capture the entire incident between the Xi'Cadians and the Atlantis," he said.

"Unfortunately, it is on the Xi'Cadian side of the border, and their government has stonewalled our attempts to gain access to it. This is where you come into play," he said in a measured tone, as if he had rehearsed this several times before making the call.

"Deep Space Five will need to dispatch a small team to cross the Xi'Cadian border, get onboard the satellite, and obtain the data from the station regarding the Atlantis' destruction," he said. "I'm convinced the damn Cardies were a part of this whole thing," Braxton said forcefully. "There are others within Command that agree with me, but they're not willing to risk a conflict with the spoonheads," he said ruefully. It was obvious that he had gone several rounds with others about this topic, but to no avail.

"So this has to be conducted at the lower end of the visibility spectrum." Braxton explained the political reality of the situation. "We can't send in a Defiant task force because of how sensitive the situation has become," he said. "Besides, I'm certain that this would be right up the alley of your intelligence chief, Mr. Jason Haines," he said, already familiar with the Human officer's file and accomplishments. His name had come up in the past during his conversations with the Raddon Corporation. However, nothing had ever come of it. It was Braxton's hope that he would be able to have a serious conversation with the young man about his future and his potential contributions to important Human causes.

Maritza privately agreed that the whole Xi'cadia situation was driven by Cardassian agent provocateurs, and they were more than probably behind the incident with the Atlantis . But still. "Has this been cleared with Starfleet Command?" She wasn't authorising anything without it coming through her chain of command. She wasn't going to be tricked into any dubious actions. "If anyone gets caught, it would be extremely..." Provocative? Embarrassing? "...inconvenient."

Braxton pursed his lips as he exhaled forcefully through his nose. He anticipated such a question. During his time as the envoy, he had come to know Commander Soran as not such a risk-taker.

"Commander, I had a conversation with Admiral Rk'tah of the 14th Fleet. While he did not directly authorize the mission, he certainly did not unauthorize it when I explained to him the political reality that we find ourselves in," Braxton replied. "If your team comes back with the necessary information that I'm certain is in the satellite, Starfleet will have everything it needs to actually hold those ridge-neck bastards accountable for what they've done," he said, as he slammed his hand on his desk.

"This mission needs people who do not know what the failure means," he added.

Bite me, Maritza thought. You want someone who won't think for themselves so you can start a war. "I'll have my CIO prep a team. The Ararat can hold on the border, take what readings they can there, and the Intel team can go as soon as I get orders from my chain of command." Not Unauthorised isn't an order. And I won't breach another government's borders without orders from someone in a Starfleet uniform. Not for you anyway.

Caleb entered Ops at a double time, taking the steps up to Maritza’s office two at a time with his long legs. He entered in time to see Soran’s frown and hear Braxton’s voice. He settled his lanky body into a chair, not interrupting the conversation, but sensing the tension in the room.

Braxton bit down on his lip to suppress the urge to scream. The Trill was proving to be more frustrating than he imagined she would be. He decided to try to reason with her.

"Commander, I understand your trepidation; however, we are dealing with a very time sensitive situation. If we allow the Xi'Cadians or the Cardassians to destroy evidence, then the crew of the Atlantis will have died for nothing. The Cardies will paint this entire situation as a victory in their ongoing propaganda campaign," he said. "We must take immediate action to secure the necessary evidence," he urged.

“Who’s gonna believe Cardie propaganda anyway?” Caleb asked, glancing at Soran to get caught up on what was going on.

Braxton was 100% right. That fact made her want to scrub her flesh clean. But Maritza was still very cautious, not of the action. She agreed it needed to be done. But of who was doing the asking. "I agree with you, Mr. Braxton, but if we're caught, the Cardassians will make even more out of it. Not to mention what they would do to our people. I will not order the breaching of another border, especially the Xi'cadians, without authorisation. I will scramble a team who can act on that authorisation without delay the moment we get it."

She turned to Ryan. "How long to get an intel team together and out there?"

Caleb considered. “Two days,” he said. He reached over and muted the connection. “Less, if ya want me to involve Nemesis an’ don’t care about the authorization,” he told Soran.

Inwardly, Martiza groaned. Hadn't she just made the point about needing authorisation? She wasn't going to swap Braxton's warmongering for another bunch of suspicious extrajudicial cowboys. "There you go, Mr. Braxton. You have two days to get proper authorisation whilst our team heads to position. That should be more than enough, yes?"

Caleb sat back, mentally putting together the team in his head. Of course, the department heads would need to have their say. They were going to be noticed violating the border, though. It was going to be tight. No doubt the Cardies were just waiting for them to do something stupid.

Braxton's lips were pursed as he contemplated the Trill's response. "Very well, we'll have to make do with whatever tools we're given," he said, slightly dejected. "Who will take command of the mission?" he asked. He wanted to know that it was someone capable of handling what could turn into a tight situation.

Given the seriousness of the mission, there was only one choice. COs were not supposed to go on away missions. That left, "Commander Ryan will be in overall command. Personnel for the mission will be his prerogative, but I assure you that we have plenty of more than adequately experienced personnel for him to choose from."

Caleb shifted in his seat, straightening up. “Ah’ll handle it, sir,” he assured Braxton.

"Very well, Braxton out," he said as he nodded to the officers. He pounded his fist on the table and turned towards his assistant who was present in the room, but not visible during the prior conversation. The damned Trill in Command of the Deep Space Five was not willing to do what was necessary to stop the Cardassians; therefore, he needed to find someone who was.

"Get me a secure line with Admiral Jenson," Braxton said. He knew that the admiral had already been in contact with Melvyn Raddon about sending help to Xi'Cadia.

"Yes sir," his assistant said, knowing exactly what he meant in the parsed sentenced.

---

Maritza turned to Caleb. "This whole thing stinks. Braxton is right, and that thought makes me want to scrub. So let's get our team out there fast. But I am rather dubious about what happens if he gets hold of that evidence. I don't trust him not to use it...poorly. So I want that evidence is our hands, not his."

“Yes, sir,” Caleb said, standing. He paused. “It’s gonna be dangerous, sir,” he said. “Ah’d bet mah rank that the Cardies are campin’ on that wreckage waitin’ for us.”

Maritza snorted. "No bet. It's not a question of if, but how long before they pop up. Be careful, Mr. Ryan. I’d rather not have to get a new XO."

FIN

Commander Caleb Ryan
Executive Officer

Hilliard Braxton
Federation Envoy
Obsidian Sector

Commander Maritza Soran
CO
DS5

 

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