Post Number 73 A Throwback

Posted on Fri Apr 30th, 2021 @ 11:43pm by Commodore Cyndi Song & Lieutenant Alister McKeon
Edited on on Sat May 1st, 2021 @ 12:00am

Mission: Planet Savai
Location: Captain’s Ready Room
Timeline: Current

Alister pushed the admittance chime on the Captain’s ready room and entered when the doors opened a wooden box under his arm. “Commodore,” he said with a nod taking a seat, “Figure it’s time to warn you about the Lee’s CO Captain Robert Jericho.”

"Is there a problem with him" Cyndi asked

“He has a reputation for his off duty antics, but his crew would follow the man to the gates of hell for him,” Alister replied, “He’s also far smarter then people think, Intelligence doesn’t pick Captains randomly for resupply runs. You could order him to assist with the Iwo Jima but depending on how that comes across he would more then likely drag his heels and pull a skeleton out of the closet to get pulled back to his regular duties.”

Cyndi smiled "We all have skeletons we don't want brought out myself included and I'll drop it there. What is his skeleton?"

“Simple,” Alister said placing the box on the desk and opening it revealing a crystal bottle inside, “Louis XIII brandy, the Captain has a taste for the finer things in life and is a shrewd negotiator. Cost me two bottles of a very fine, very old Single Malt Scotch and a cask Strength Irish whiskey to get moved to the front of the line for a resupply. A simple present between Captains and he’ll be looking very favorably toward a request for assistance."

"I like him already and I happen to know three of my officers have several bottles of Romulan Ale aboard," Cyndi said nodding to the bottle "I take it that's the present to act as a request for assistance?"

“Well then I won’t worry about the case that I’ll have aboard getting raided then,” Alister replied with a deadpan voice, “Yes the Louis XIII is the present, pretty sure it’s going to be an arm and leg to try and replace somehow but who knows what opportunities are going to come up for horse trading out here.”

"Should we run the risk of getting raided I can easily have the Romulan Ale held in transporter suspension and no one will be the wiser," Cyndi commented "I look forward to meeting him and getting his assistance in this matter."

“Please, Romulan Ale I can get my hands on never understood the whole Romulan Ale thing,” Alister replied, “But for some reason Starfleet officers really go for so I keep some on hand same with most other alcohol types. Captain Jericho managed to get into what I call my private reserve stuff I normally keep for myself. As I said drives a hard bargain or someone tipped him off I keep better stuff in the back so to speak.

"Perhaps because it's illegal to have, I never developed a taste for it. I once served under a Klingon Captain and he had me drinking blood wine. While not bad, I just could never get a taste for it. My husband however loves it," Cyndi commented.

Alister shrugged his shoulders, “Have a couple of bottles of blood wine gift from a Klingon Intelligence Officer had it checked to make sure it wasn’t going to explode then I opened it someone said it was the good stuff what ever that means,” he said ignoring the illegal nature of Romulan Ale, “But yes, I’m sure Captain Jericho will love the bottle, he prides himself of being a throw back Officer to the days of Kirk.”

"I like him already," Cyndi said "Admiral Kirk's escapades were required readings at the academy. I look forward to meeting Captain Jericho and getting him to assist once the Iwo Jima is boarded as I'm sure there is more going on over there than we've been told. Major Hurd is very secretive almost as if he doesn't trust us."

“I’ll have my people poke around when they board it doesn’t take long to set up the repeater for the slicer and it doesn’t need to be monitored.” Alister replied with a nod of his head, “Something doesn’t add up right and it’s bugging me with this ship. Hopefully her computer systems are somewhat intact. Of course thinking from the other side of this was my op after getting all the data I would slag the computers with directional EMP make sure no one knew anything if I didn’t simply dump the hulk into a handy sun to get rid of the evidence.”

"I want to know where that ship has been for so long and why it just showed up," Cyndi commented "The major is taking more than you and Rivers over there."

“I could change up my approach, send a tech to set up the scanners and have my five operations members board separately without the Major knowing? Once he disables the traps if you bring the Amandora say two kilometers from the Iwo Jima my team can exit an airlock and cross to the Iwo. She’s got more then enough holes for them to use.”

Cyndi got to her feet and walked to the window in her office and looked over at the hulk that was the Iwo Jima for a couple of minutes. Returning to her desk Cyndi resumed her seat "Do it, just be careful we don't know what lies over there if anything."

“They’ll be careful, won’t be the first time for them boarding the aftermath of massacre,” Alister said quietly, “They know what they’re walking into and will take all possible precautions, the Marines won’t even know we’re there.”

"I've seen the aftermath of a massacre , not a pretty sight. How soon before you'll be ready to go?" Cyndi asked.

“Once we have the gear from the Lee it’ll take us half an hour to give the gear a once over and make sure everything is working correctly. I’ll brief the team during that time,” Alister replied, “They’ll be informed their primary mission will be to investigate how the ship got this far out, ignore engineering issues and helping with removal of the bodies. I’ll make sure they receive any challenges the Marines set up, last thing I want is a friendly fire accident.”

"Same here, try to get the captain's logs if possible," Cyndi commented "Once your team has what you need will you want to go back over with the major and his people or will you prefer to stay aboard and go over the data?"

“I’ll stay aboard the Iwo Jima, once my team is clear,” Alister replied after a moment of silence to think over the situation, “I’ll return to the Amandora and go over the data, see if anything needs to bucked up to Intelligence or quietly shared with any interested parties. If some power did take the ship and then dump her that might be of interest to possibly the Klingons and Romulans, they have missing ships from the war that where assumed destroyed if they got towed away that info might be worth a favor or two in the future.”

"I've thought about that. There are no visible scorch marks on the hull. So what ever happened to her happened aboard. There is also the possibility there could be Klingon or Romulans aboard who are dead. The thought has also occurred to me that there might be life over there. There are some sections that appear to be intact." Cyndi said

“Betazed fell before the Romulans entered the war,” Alister said frowning slightly, “Considering how the Major reacted to anyone but himself going over I can’t imagine Klingons being aboard either. From what I can recall the invasion was over before any major response could arrive after the tenth fleet was caught out of position. The only bodies should be Federation Marines, maybe some Starfleet personal.”

"I'd forgotten that part. That war was bad and we need answers. There are more questions than answers and we need answers. It's time to find them. "Cyndi said "How long before the Lee is due?"

“She’s thirty minutes out making warp 8.6,” Alister said, “Should take no more then five minutes for the gear and personal effects to be sent over. I know the Major is itching to go aboard but I do appreciate having a second starship on hand.”

"As do I," Cyndi replied "Assemble your team."

“Aye, Aye,” Alister said with a nod and stood up, “Good luck with Captain Jericho, I’ll inform my team about the change of plans and assign one of my technical team to attach the link for the slicer.”

"Keep me posted," Cyndi said

end