Keeping A Low Profile (Part I)

Posted on Fri Mar 18, 2022 @ 8:01am by Lieutenant Alanna Wells & Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca & Captain Maritza Soran & Captain Tam "Demon" Haican & Civilian Jason Haines & Civilian Sabina Haican

2,424 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Si vis pacem, para bellum
Location: Pangaea
Timeline: Before "For Whom the Bell Tolls"

ON

Over the next several days after the fall of DS5, the team on Pangaea fell into a sort of routine. Nightly searches for survivors, establishing refugee sites in caves, and gathering as much intel on Cardassian activities as they could.

Jason spent a lot of time out looking for other survivors. During his month of personal exile, he had learned quite a bit about the trails in the various wooded areas. He had found a few people and avoided Cardassian patrols using a few of the tricks both his father and god-father had taught him, although one patrol came really close to finding him.

Alanna continually monitored communications, hoping for any good news, but so far there was little. She learned that Captain Soran was alive, which meant the portal complex was still under her authority, or so Alanna assumed. She also learned that T'gan was safely off the station with all information on the portal site. That, too, was a relief. She shared what she learned with the others and kept only the information on the portal site to herself and Jason.


"So, what's next on the agenda?" she asked the group that evening.

Tam spoke up first. "I'm going to head out, into the woods, and try to find some more supplies. Anyone want to buddy up with me?"

"I'd better, so you don't bring back something inedible," Brianthe said.

Tam gave Brianthe a toothy, lop-sided grin, but said nothing. His eyes did sparkle when he looked at her.

Alanna tried not to roll her eyes. She'd never been that obvious--at least she didn't think she had. Even so, it was good to see Bri laughing. "Okay, but stay away from the old village site, and the grove of white trees.

Tam nodded. "She'll make sure I behave," he said with a cheeky grin and a wink.

Alanna wasn't so sure about that. She turned to Jason. "What do you think about finding someplace near one of the caves and planting some wheat?"

"Long term, it's a great idea", Jason said. "Short term, not so sure. The amount of ground we would need to till out would be quite large, if we wanted to use it for sustaining a large number of people. The Cardassians would notice it pretty easy."

He looked at her with a smile and said, "Of all the things we could grow to feed people, why wheat?"

"I was actually thinking long-term," she said. "Wheat and rice are two of the basic staples. I'm not sure where we could do it that wouldn't point directly to us or the refugees, but I'm curious to see if it's possible."

"You need a decent size area for those types of crops from everything I've seen", Jason said shrugging his shoulders. "I found the ocean cuisine and fruits near the coast pretty tasty myself. Well, except for the little purple fruits. Made my tongue turn yellow and tingle."

"We haven't looked there yet," Alyssa said. "Is there an area by the ocean that would be safe for refugees?"

"Not unless we have scuba gear for every refugee we find", Jason said. "I'm also not sure how the natives would take to a lot of people in the water. They are a bit touchy when it comes to strangers."

Alyssa nodded. "That's one of the reasons I've avoided it so far." Some of them she wouldn't mention in public. "And we're basically confined to this continent, anyway." She sighed. Maybe we should just avoid the oceans and stick to caves."

Sabina was sitting in a corner, knees drawn up, listening to everyone's conversation. She thought all their ideas were dumb. The Cardassians were everywhere, and they should be trying to get off world. All the talk about planting sounded ridiculous. That was a sure way to get spotted and bombed. Maybe that was a good thing. Her father was completely out of his mind right now. A good bombing might do him good. "What natives? There's aren't any natives. There aren't even predators?"

"There are, actually." Alanna chuckled. "The two-legged variety. And some creature we haven't identified. But we still have refugees that may need our help. For now, we're safer down here on the planet than trying to leave."

"Trust her, there are", Jason said. He wasn't going to share here. Then something he read about the station's past hit him. "I wonder if we could get them to visit the inhabitants to the north?"

Alanna looked at Jason for a long moment. "That...could be interesting. Captain Soran would not be pleased, but under the circumstances..." The idea intrigued her. Quite a bit. "You know, if they got information that the station's head of science was hiding out in the north, they might think it worth looking into."

"Is that wise?" Brianthe said. "Do you really want them knowing you're here?"

"No." Alanna shook her head. "I want them to receive intel that I fled north to the forbidden area. I think we can arrange for that intel to be found on the station itself."

"Captain Soran isn't here. She can complain the next time she sees us", Jason said. He shook his head. "We can't get the Cardassians to turn their attention on finding you or any science staff right now. We need to convince them that the key to taking over the portals lies on the northern continent. Which I think would best be done by bringing the story to them. I think we can concoct a pretty decent story that I can deliver. You get trained to embellish a little bit in Intel. I know just enough to be convincing, but not give any real secrets away. Plus, of all the staff here, I have the least strategic value should the plan go wrong. Those of you in the science staff know too much and if they turned their attention to you, that could really cause issues. The marines could be used as leverage if they were caught and then wouldn't be able to support any Starfleet counterattack on the ground when it comes. I'm a nobody whose intel access was cut off nearly two years ago and anything I truly know is worthless. And, if Captain Soran does get mad, she can't really court martial me."

Alanna shook her head. "I can embellish as well as you can. And I'm more believable." She paused. "I didn't say I would take it to them. I said that we should get someone on the station to leak that I fled to the north. We could even add that it was to protect some secret about the portals. I have no intention of letting them know I'm here. But you have to admit it would make more sense if it was me. You're a former intel officer who had a row with Soran and left. You're less believable than I am." She grinned. "I'll even let you figure out what to leak where. But I maintain it should be about me."

"Yeah, but they don't know the location that the mission took place when you went to the continent", Jason said. "This all hinges on getting them there. We can't really get them to a specific spot with just a rumor."

He looked at Brianthe and then back to Alanna. He knew Brianthe wasn't too keen on Alanna getting Cardassian spot light put on her in any way.

Brianthe looked from Jason to Alanna. "I'm not going to get in the middle of this. You both have valid points. Using the lure of Alanna and her knowledge of the portals would get their attention, but I also think it would be dangerous."

Alanna was also shaking her head. "We'll do this together," she said to Jason. "And find a way to keep us both safe at the same time. In many ways, you're more valuable than I am." She wasn't going to go into that in front of others, but she knew Jason would understand. His temporal knowledge, combined with his role as an intel officer and being half Fae made him far more important than she was.

"I am not so sure there is a way to do this safely", Jason said. "but perhaps there is a safer way. The first part is convincing them to go to the north continent and that involves a face to face. I still think I can pull that off, regardless of whether it works or not. If it doesn't work, with your shuttle, you can beam me out. If we do get them to go north, we need to strand them there, which you can do with your ship. Plus, you will need to pull me out, because I don't want to get killed by the Cardassians or captured by the inhabitants. Plus, I'm a good swimmer, but don't think I can swim all the way back here."

Alanna put her hands on her hips. "No. Not in person. I don't want to risk your safety to my ability to transport you out in time. What if they put up a forcefield? And what if they just kill you?" She shook her head. She couldn't lose him again. She'd nearly done so too many times already. "Is there a way you could communicate with them from the colony? I'm sure there are places to open a commlink. The question is, how to strand them when they have plenty of ships orbiting the planet."

"Well, one way or the other, when Starfleet comes back, the possibility of getting killed will go up anyway", Jason said. "And if we do this right, it will be the leaders or some of them that will get killed, which will put their little mission into chaos. I am going to offer them the keys to the castle so to speak, which should keep me from getting killed. I'm more worried about what will happen when we get to the northern continent than what they will due to me. As far as stranding them, you just shoot their little transport. You can cloak fast enough so we can get out of the area."

She'd used all her arguments, and the others were staying out of this. Probably for the better as they didn't know the details. Not even Brianthe. "Who's to say they won't have a ship in orbit that can transport them--or you?"

"I'm not saying that this is even going to work", Jason said. "And there are quite a few things that could go wrong. Right now, the only weapon to fight them and make things easier is the northern continent. I don't think they will buy things if we just do it over a comm channel and they can trace that."

"Unless I do it," Alanna said. "From the northern continent. Or a mile above it."

"I don't think they will find it believable", Jason replied. "Plus, if a face to face is done, we could also get someone inside their compound."

Sabina looked up. "Why not send Brianthe? She's not Alanna, and she's been on station recently enough to be believable. They'll probably just deport her straight after anyway."

"She has a point," Brianthe added. "And I'm a botanist. I know very little about the portals, or what either of you are doing. I'm probably the best person to do this."

Alanna wanted to disagree, but they both had a point. "Maybe."

"Not my call", Jason said. "The question is, how are you going to convince them that they need to go to the northern continent? They will be suspicious of any story, but if we do decide to do it from a distance your story is going to have to be strong as it will be harder to improvise this way."

"I know. Once we come up with the story, I can bluff, if I need to," Bri said, glancing at Alanna. "It might help if we could somehow make it look like you're really there. Like a signal of some sort, or a combadge."

Jason shrugged his shoulders and then sat down. He wasn't going to argue with Alanna. Even so, he was feeling protective and had a bit of a flashback as to the last time he tried to get her to stay away from the 'bad guy'. It didn't really end well for them and he was still fighting the memories.

Alanna didn't need to look at Jason to pick up on his thoughts. She sent him a tight, telepathic message, sharing an image of his dead body on the funeral pyre, and Soran telling her Jason had been killed in a shuttle accident. She couldn't keep some of her emotions from bleeding through. "I'll let you do this if we can go together. Otherwise, we let Bri do it and you and I bait the trap--from a safe distance."

Jason got up and whispered to Alanna, "Let me do what I do best. If things go wrong, you rescue me this time."

She looked at him for a long moment, then nodded. She trusted him. It didn't stop her from being afraid, but she would let him do this.

"I won't die on you, I promise", he said with a wink. He would have given her a kiss, but there were too many others around.

He sat down, wondering a little if he were truly nuts, but he knew the Cardassians needed to be delayed.

Alanna watched him as he went back to his seat. He couldn't guarantee he wouldn't die, but she couldn't keep him from doing this. He was the best person for the job. He didn't know how far she would go to make sure he came out of this alive, and she hoped he would never find out.

"Alright", Jason said. "I need to go think a bit, the gears are starting to turn and I don't want the smoke to bother you all."

The science officer nodded. "I'll see if I can find out what's going on with DS5 and the portals." Although Alanna didn't think there would be anything new, it was still worth listening in on the comm channels.

Jason nodded and walked out the back doorn into the woods.

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer
Deep Space 5

Jason "Beach Bum" Haines
Troublemaker
Pangaea

Lieutenant JG Brianthe Oaxaca
Botanist
Deep Space 5

Captain Tam "Demon" Haican
CAG
Deep Space 5

Sabina Haican
Civilian
Deep Space 5

 

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