ASR MetaPost: "...Two if by Pirate"
SD: 160425.0830 EST (Present Day)
Setting: Tactical Planning Room, Starbase ALPHA
Admiral Conrad Veld watched with tired eyes as his "Right-Hand Man"
(who, as irony would have it, was a woman), ADM Rachel Ash, carried
her steaming mug of tea over to the Tactical Situation Display. "Ready
for another day at the office, Conrad?"
The Commander-in-Chief glanced up from his stooped position over
the deactivated display. "I've gotten used to this by now, certainly,"
he grumbled. "But I'll never stop being at least a little amazed that
our little corner of the galaxy could have this much going on at one
time."
Rachel raised an eyebrow. "It's a good thing we have a large fleet,
then."
Veld chuckled, his body rising and falling as he did. "Sometimes
I get worried it won't be big enough."
Before the CSFO could respond, the twin doors to the room parted,
revealing the hardened, professional visage of Admiral John Brooks,
his Chief of Staff, Brigadier Sorill, trailing close behind.
"Isn't this a little late for you, John?" Conrad asked, tapping the
watch on his wrist as he rose to an upright position.
Brooks' features broke momentarily as he grasped Veld's hand. "Had
shuttle trouble," CINCGOLD quipped. "Give R & D another 25 years and
I'll be able to beam here."
Veld grinned. "Get your self a drink," he said, turning his gaze
to the Vulcan Marine as Brooks released his grip. "Brigadier," he said,
bowing slightly.
Sorill's face, unlike Veld's or Brooks', did not so much as twitch.
Conrad knew that this was an act. Sorill might be Vulcan, but the people
of Makus III were an exuberant and emotional lot. That the marine chose
the outward demeanor of those of his race's home world would not change
what he was or what Conrad Veld knew all-too-well Sorill had done in
the accomplishment of his duties. Not would it change the fact that,
at least as far as Veld was concerned, Sorill sometimes enjoyed those
things far more than any officer in a Star Fleet uniform should. "Admiral,"
he said, mirroring Conrad's bow before settling in next to Brooks in
one of the chairs arranged around the large table in the middle of the
room.
Veld's own Chief of Staff, a Bolian Commodore named Patt, handed
Brooks and Sorill each a PADD. "Thank you," Brooks said, taking the
PADD from Patt and thumbing it on in one motion.
Brooks nodded as he scrolled through the contents. "Good- I see you've
already heard from Stout," he said.
Veld nodded in response. Vice Admiral Francis "Stout" Anderson, Commander-in-Chief
of INDIGO Fleet, would be the only fleet commander not attending this
meeting in person; with INDIGO being 7 days away by d-warp shuttle,
it was decidedly impossible for him to be here.
**And decidedly inconvenient to talk to as well,** he thought. INDIGO
was so far away from Wolf 359 and the inner Federation systems that
there was nearly a 25 minute delay between replies over the new hyperwave
radio communications network. That the delay would have been more than
18-hours over subspace did not make the current delay any more convenient.
So, instead of live communication, they had long ago settled on simply
trading messages and filling one another's mail queues.
The swooshing of the doors opening snapped Veld back to the present.
He turned, and saw Admiral Robert Steele walk in with his staff.
Veld walked over and held out his hand. "Admiral- glad to see you
could get away."
Steele smirked as he shook Veld's hand. "I think Rose can handle
things for a day or so while I'm here," he said. "I just hope the rest
of EPSILON is there when I get back."
Veld was about to comment when the doors opened a third time, this
time depositing Vice Admiral Milton Vaun and Vice Admiral R.B. Hess
simultaneously.
Conrad met them as they walked into the room. "Admirals," he said,
shaking hands first with Commander-in-Chief of BLUE Fleet, Hess, and
then with the relative newcomer to the Admiralty, the CINCGREEN Vaun.
He led them over to the table where Brooks and, now, Steele were
waiting.
As Patt passed out more PADDs, Veld, flanked by Ash, took the head
of the table. "All right- down to business," he said, punching a button
on the console in front of him.
Instantly, the Tactical Situation Display embedded in the conference
table came to life, projecting a 3-dimensional holographic image of
the galaxy into the air above the table where they sat. Straddling the
ALPHA and BETA quadrants lay Federation territory- or more appropriately
the "Federation Treaty Expansion Zone"- and inside her boundaries were
5 colored blobs in different shapes, representing each of the Starfleet's
5 major fleets.
Conrad touched another button, and immediately the map jumped, focusing
on the purplish section furthest from their current location. "Since
we were fortunate enough to get Admiral Anderson's packet beforehand,
we'll start with INDIGO," he said. As he did, he glanced over at Ash
and nodded.
The slight woman rose from her chair as Conrad sat in his. "Admiral
Anderson reports that they are still experiencing some fallout from
the failed Dalriadan attempts to pit the Federation and the Romulans
against one another," she began, punching a button in front of her on
the table.
The map zoomed in closer now, until the Federation/Dalriadan border
came into closer focus. "However, the main bone of contention continues
to be the exploration of Sidhe ruins on the far side of Dalriadan space,"
she said; as she did, the map suddenly jolted forward so that one felt
as though they were traveling through Dalriadan space and, finally coming
to a stop beyond it.
Ash touched yet another button; this time, a couple of red circles
popped up just inside the former boundaries of Sidhe space. "A couple
of INDIGO ships in particular- CASSANDRA and BAKU- have reported minor
skirmishes with Dalriadan Q-Ships over Sidhe ruins. No losses to either
ship's support squadrons were reported, though both CASSANDRA and BAKU
were forced to withdraw."
Then, Ash touched another button. "Then we have this," she said,
and a third circle- this one bright orange- began to glow and pulse
on the map. It was just inside the GAMMA quadrant, on the fringes of
what had once been Sidhe influence.
"We're not certain what's here at this time, beyond a large concentration
of Dalriadan ships," she said. "However, USS SOYUZ was able to get its
AUGURS on the area, where it detected intermittent elevated neutrino
readings."
Milton Vaun felt the muscles in his back contract on hearing of this.
Months ago, similar readings had led USS TEMPEST to investigate a quiet
sector in Green space, what turned out to be a new, unstable wormhole
in ODGREEN's patrol area. TEMPEST had been sent in, and the Command
team had been abducted off the ship by "aliens unknown" - unknown to
this day - before the ship retreated back out. It had taken sending
in the USS VALDOSTA and her Marine Fighter Wing to help TEMPEST recover
TEMPEST's command team before that wormhole had collapsed. Vaun fixed
his gaze on Ash. "They've found a wormhole? Any idea where it leads?"
Ash shook her head. "Not at this time; Admiral Anderson says that
every time he sends a ship anywhere close, a couple of Dalriadan warships
break off and chase it away."
Vaun incorporated that news with his knowledge of the reports TEMPEST
had submitted months ago. Vaun had grave doubts the "aliens unknown"
that abducted TEMPEST's command team were Dalriadan. Still, the unstable
wormhole that TEMPEST had investigated months ago had opened only 72
light years from Earth, and they had been unable to obtain any data
on where it lead to, before it collapsed. 'The inferences were that
the beings that abducted TEMPEST's command team were in control of that
particular wormhole, and had been on a scouting mission. Gathered the
intelligence they could, and then retreated, collapsed the wormhole
to avoid being followed to wherever they came from.
Any new wormholes within reach of a Starfleet task force, Vaun thought,
were worthy of consideration for further exploration- even if a couple
of Dalriadan warships seemed intent on discouraging such interest. Vaun
glanced around the table. "Perhaps it's time to send in more than 'a
ship'?"
"This is still inside the recognized borders of the Dalriadan Star
Kingdom itself, let alone the borders that the Alliance holds. Those
readings look to be coming from one of the systems near Daear herself.
Given how sensitive the Dalriada have been about us poking our noses
around their territory, I'd recommend against doing anything to provoke
them."
There was that. This one was well out of GREEN's area, and Vaun knew
it. But he'd voiced his opinion, and Hess gave him a knowing nod of
the head. Vaun nodded once and turned his left hand palm up, his body
language deferring further comment on this to Hess.
"But isn't provoking us what that whole mess with the DX-303 and
the Romulans was about?" questioned Hess. His Blue Fleet had been even
more on the line than Gold Fleet when the tensions created by the cover
Dalriadan action almost triggered a shooting war between the Federation
and the Star Empire.
"I know. I know," said Brooks with the exasperation of someone who
had repeated the same argument more than once, "And I agree with you,
R. B., about the likelihood of a splinter group getting their hands
on a prototype destroyer and sending it half-way across the galaxy on
such a mission." Brooks paused, but Hess did not interrupt. "However,
the Dalriada have not made any overt military actions against us in
the last six years. After being in the middle of a shooting conflict
with them that we only managed to shut down quickly by calling half
of the battleships in the Federation and a not-so-inconsequential support
fleet into the fray, I have little desire to repeat the experience.
"You might recall that before being recalled to active duty as CINCGOLD,
I spent a year and a half as ambassador to the Dalriada. In that time
I learned a thing or two about them. The Dalriada are not that different
from us. And before anyone says it, yes, that means that I think the
Federation is capable of launching a preemptive strike like the Dalriada
did if we were backed into a corner." Brooks looked levelly around the
table.
"I have to disagree with that assessment, John," said Veld, at last
breaking the silence that Brooks' statement had left in its wake.
"Then why did the Federation Council agree to the trade restrictions?
They like out merchants profiting all that they can, but not at the
cost of bankrupting a neighboring civilization. Particularly one that
is willing to start a shooting war over what they perceive as economic
warfare. Fifty years ago when the Federation colonies in the region
sprang up, merchant cartels followed to exploit new markets. They aggressively
outbid their Dalriadan counterparts and took critical trade routes away
from Dalriadan cartels.
"Despite the rather anachronistic sounding constitutional monarchy
of the Star Kingdom, they are as egalitarian and open as the Federation.
In many ways, they are more so. After all, while they have a rabidly
capitalistic society they have managed to provide a high standard of
living for all of their citizens without resorting to the same level
of governmental control that the Federation has enforced. That our merchants
are highly regulated by the Federation government and that they were
willing to accept near-sustenance level profit margins for market share
in a region of space that is experiencing tremendous growth convinced
some of the Dalriada that the Federation was out to dominate them through
economic conquest without firing a shot.
"Looking from the perspective of merchants forced to operate at cost
to compete with our merchants that were willing to do the same and the
politicians that had to face a rapidly shrinking tax base, I can certainly
sympathize with their position. You know as well as I do that the best
ideals of the Federation are not always what comes across to those that
we encounter. And while the Alliance and Federation are genuinely very
similar, all we saw at first was the fine points of difference. That
is beginning to change, but there is still a healthy protectionist sentiment
among the allied worlds and, particularly, within the Star Kingdom itself.
"I say, 'Let Anderson watch and see what he can find out about this
wormhole, but don't let him risk sending a Federation warship that deep
into the Alliance.' And for heaven's sake don't let him use a merchant
ship to try to collect the information. I know that the Dalriada have
used Q-ships in Federation space and even chased off a survey ship or
two with armed ships of their own, though I am not sure that they are
true Q-ships and not just armed science vessels. After all, we do arm
our explorers too. But if we start using out merchants to collect intelligence,
then we risk allowing things to spiral out of control all over again."
"Point taken," conceded Veld. "We may want to discuss this more later,
but let's move on for the moment."
Ash then concluded Anderson's report. "Other than these trouble spots,
Anderson reports that explorations away from the core to the galactic
west of the Dalriada are continuing unhindered; USS ALLIANCE has discovered
a potential First Contact civilization here," she said as the map zoomed
out again, re-centering on INDIGO's Area of Operation, where a bright
yellow dot now flashed in the frontiers of the ALPHA Quadrant.
Grasping her tea cup, Ash sat down and locked her gaze on Veld.
Veld took the cue. "OK- thoughts on how to support Admiral Anderson
before we move on to Admiral Vaun and GREEN Fleet?"
Brooks shuffled in his seat slightly. "Perhaps a couple more capital
ships- a heavy and a light cruiser, maybe- to support SOYUZ and keep
her from being chased away so easily?"
Veld raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't want to provoke the
Dalriada?"
Brooks mimicked Veld's raised eyebrow. "I said I didn't want to start
a fight. I didn't say I was stupid."
Veld chuckled as he nodded. "I agree," he said, nodding to Ash, seated
at his right. She punched a few buttons into her PADD, and as quickly
set it down as Admiral Vaun rose to speak.
He cleared his throat out of habit before speaking. As he did, Ash
touched another button on the console in front of her, resetting the
holographic map so that it was centered on GREEN.
Geographically, GREEN HQ- Starbase DELTA, located at Vulcan- was
just about the same distance from Wolf 359 as GOLD HQ at Andor was.
However, Wolf 359 and all of the Federation's central systems- Sector
001- fell within GREEN's Area of Operation. Defending the heart of the
Federation had long been GREEN's responsibility, and it was one of which
they were immensely proud.
Vaun smiled at Ash as he began his rundown. "Clearly, the most notable
thing to happen in our fleet has been the reappearance of USS THUNDERCHILD,
lost almost 4 years ago," he said. As he did, he hit a series of buttons
on his own console, centering the holoimage on a point just inside of
the infamous 'Badlands.' "She reappeared here, in Deep Space 4's region,
within 5 light years of the Station."
Vaun paused briefly before continuing. "So far, the ship's return
has raised more questions than it has answered," Vaun noted, "but we'll
get on top of it. Admiral Gates has offered to extend any help GREENCINC
needs in getting those answers." He was referring to the DIROSFI. Gates
had a personal interest. His stepson was the son of THUNDERCHILD's Captain
Gatewood, and his wife was the mother of that child.
Veld perked up slightly when Vaun mentioned Gates; he knew there
was a family issue, now complicated by THUNDERCHILD's return. He wondered
how
Milton- and Gates, for that matter- was dealing with the situation....
"Also, because of increased activity in the area, I have assigned
KRONSHTADT to the area; Deep Space 4 will be her new home base. With
her Marine Fighter compliment, she should act as an able deterrent to
increased pirate activity. Commodore de la Cruz has recommended shifting
USS TEMPEST from SB SARRENTO to Deep Space 4 also; that's probably going
to happen, but hasn't yet. We'll rely more heavily on MACRONIN and others
to fill in where TEMPEST would normally, once that move is made."
Vaun changed PADDs. "As far as GIBXFOR goes, the GIBRALTAR wormhole
has been behaving, thankfully. NORMANDY's patrols through the wormhole
have been routine since we last met. DAEDALUS is currently at GIBRALTAR
undergoing minor repairs and a command change. Captain Tre Harris has
taking over command of DAEDALUS for Captain Fitzgerald, who is helping
us with GIBXFOR command."
He was almost done. "USS CHESAPEAKE is currently investigating the
disappearance of the colonists of Bethany Three. The colonists disappeared
but the infrastructure remains intact and functional; one inhabitant,
a small child, was found alive and generally in good health, but unable
to relate what might have happened. CHESAPEAKE continues to investigate
the situation."
"USS BURKE is currently in the midst of delivering medical supplies
and personnel to TriKon III. Along the way they ran into some pirates."
Vaun paused. "Overall we have noticed an increase in acts of piracy
across GREEN Fleet's territories. At any rate, BURKE is dealing with
their situation and not requesting additional help at this time."
There was one issue bothering Vaun, an issue he saved for last.
"Commodore Tomita has removed Captain Natanazi from command of USS
CONSTELLATION to face a board of inquiry, and assumed command of the
ship," he said, his voice clipped, his tone bereft of emotion. "Natanazi's
BOI went well and the Captain is headed back to command CONSTELLATION.
Commodore Taos Numminen has replaced Tomita as Commander of TACRON 33."
Veld watched Vaun's body language a he spoke; the combination of
his facial expression combined with his tone of voice suggested but
one judgment of the CINCGREEN's feelings on the subject. As such, Veld
decided to file the matter as "handled" and move on.
Brooks' eyes narrowed and he debated interjecting a comment. But,
reading Veld, he decided to stir up troubles of a board of inquiry headed
by a political official and the implication that the commodore may well
have bowed to political pressure outside of the chain of command. Brooks
knew were he thought Tomita ought to be exiled, but Vaun knew the details
on the spot better than Brooks did. His own information -- despite some
reliable, though very unofficial, first-hand reports from the board
proceedings on Vulcan -- was incomplete. And there was no need pronouncing
to all assembled what sort of information the Brooks-family connections
afforded him about matters that didn't concern the commander of a single
fleet.
Conrad nodded his head slowly as the CINCGREEN sat down. As he did,
Admiral Robert Steele took his turn; again, on cue, Ash reset the map
so that it centered on SB EPSILON and the Gibraltar II wormhole, along
the Cardassian border.
Veld nodded his head slowly as the CINCGREEN sat down. As he did,
Admiral Robert Steele took his turn; again, on cue, Ash reset the map
so that it centered on SB EPSILON and the Gibraltar II wormhole, along
the Cardassian border.
"Well, it's been a good month." Steele began with a smile. "I have
to admit dancing a jig after the last damn Cardassian left my station.
At times it felt like they had been there forever."
When the Gibraltar II wormhole had been discovered on the SILVER
side of the Federation-Cardassian border the two governments had come
to an historic agreement. Fearing the worst would emerge from the suddenly
formed wormhole, an exact replicable of its namesake in GREEN Fleet
space, SILVER Fleet had moved Starbase EPSILON to the mouth of the wormhole,
only a few thousand kilometers from the border. Cardassia, fearing the
wormhole and the multiple question marks its sudden appearance had raised
was even more threatened by a major fleet base on its border. Especially
one that was based on a derelict Husnock station the size of a respectable
planetoid.
For years relations had continually thawed between the two governments
but this new development provided a wedge that would destroy all that
had been achieved. As the tension mounted Leggat Hiral, Steele's Cardassian
counterpart arrived at EPSILON with a plan to diffuse the situation.
First, a joint task force would be formed by the two navies to picket
the wormhole. As the picket force would be within Federation space the
taskforce commander would be a Starfleet Officer his deputy would be
Cardassian. Second, Cardassian military, exploratory and merchant traffic
would have unfettered access to the wormhole as long as they remained
in a specific corridor during their brief transit through SILVER space.
Finally Cardassia would build its own Fleet base to help support the
joint task force as well as provide a base for Cardassian exploration
of the other side of the wormhole.
Admiral Steele, whose first experience with Cardassians had been
during the Dominion War, had long been a vocal opponent of Cardassia.
His appointment as the commander of SILVER Fleet had led the Cardassian
government to make several back channel protests. Steele, however, knew
his mandate and understood the importance of diffusing the increasingly
tense situation and, as he would later admit to a select few, he was
motivated by the fear of what might come out of the wormhole. So, after
a very brief negotiation he accepted Leggat Hiral's plan, tentative
of course on a stamp of approval from the Federation Council which soon
followed. Then in a move that surprised even himself Steele offered
Hiral a portion of the under-utilized EPSILON including a space dock
to use as a temporary fleet base until their permanent one was completed.
It had been a long two years.
"Not going to miss your weekly breakfasts with Leggat Hiral?" CINCBLUE
asked with a chuckle.
"No." Steele answered bluntly. "Of course we'll still keep a regular
meeting schedule but it's nice to know I can have BECKY disrupt the
com channel if he gets too long-winded. Lots of interference coming
out of that wormhole." He quipped. "But I have to be honest and admit
that I do have tremendous respect for the man. A hell of a lot was accomplished
in the past two years in large part due to his efforts. And other then
a few minor incidents where an individual Cardassian thought he was
a master spy, Leggat Hiral and his people never tried to stick their
noses where they didn't belong. In fact they bent over backwards trying
not to stumble across classified information."
"As far as you know." One of his colleagues quipped.
"True." Steele conceded. "But I am confident there were no security
breaches. We kept a close eye on them and BECKY kept an even closer
eye. If she didn't catch them in some nefarious scheme then none occurred."
BECKY was EPSILON's resident AI, the Husnock computer that ran the station.
The stubborn computer was happy to have itself used as SILVER's home
but it was notoriously obstinate when it came to letting the Federation
make any headway in co-opting some of the military related Husnock technology.
"It would seem that the Cardassians aren't your only friends, Admiral."
Veld said. "In my meeting with the Council president this morning he
confirmed that Cait's petition to re-enter the Federation was going
to be fast-tracked."
"That is good news." Steele replied with much relief. There was a
vocal minority that had opposed Cait's immediate resumption of its position
in the Federation after its treatment of Federation and Starfleet personnel
five years previous.
Since the Battle of Cait and the subsequent eviction of the old Starbase
EPSILON from Caitian orbit relations between the Caitians and Federation
had first been strained and then nonexistent. The Caitian elite had
decided that they had no desire to be a mere puppet of the Federation
and had closed their borders much against the desires of the majority
of the Caitian population. It had soon become apparent that whatever
their intentions Cait and its cores systems could not survive on its
own. But having campaigned against the evil the Federation represented
the leadership could not reopen its borders. Instead they had looked
to a closer relationship with Cardassia Prime, seeing the Cardassians
able to fill the void left by the removal of the Federation. But that
had changed with the discovery of the Gibraltar II Wormhole. The alliance
between the Federation and the Cardassians had seen the promised Caitian-Cardassian
association wither on the vine.
The Caitian economy had plunged into oblivion and it began to lose
its grip on its outlying systems. The patriarchal government faltered
and was replaced by a dictatorship which ruled the shocked populace
through fear and brutality. Finally the Caitian Navy had had enough.
Long a friend of Starfleet the nephew of the Caitian Chief of Staff
met secretly with Admiral Steele to feel out what the Federation's response
might be to a coup by the Caitian Navy. Steele had never been clear
on just what his input to the meeting had been but it was generally
accepted that he had walked a very fine line between the neutral stance
the Federation had taken with Cait and meddling in the affairs of a
sovereign government. One thing that was clear was that once the coup
had proven successful he had wasted no time sending aid to the beleaguered
population, offered the Caitian's lucrative trade deals and renewed
the treaties with their navy. It seemed that the efforts on both sides
had borne fruit. This didn't negate the fact that the Caitian people
had suffered for five years because of a greedy elite.
"It will take some time to get their economy back online," Steele
continued, "but once it is it will be a benefit to both of us. Their
systems are a raw material treasure trove and they've already signed
some profitable trade deals with some of the new systems we've discovered
in the last decade. And we've already completed a joint mission with
their navy to root out some local pirates who were praying on those
new trade routes."
Veld nodded. Pirates were a theme that kept coming to the forefront
across the Federation. "I've looked over EXCALIBUR's after-action report
this morning. How much of a blow do you think her destruction of that
base will have on the piracy that has been occurring in your neck of
the woods?"
Steele shifted in his seat and considered the question for a moment.
"It certainly will shut down pirate activities in those sectors and
I think Captain Gibson and his teams made it very clear that there won't
be any mercy for their ilk. But to be perfectly honest, the only answer
I can give you is that I don't know. With the exception of a few high
profile attacks piracy has been down almost 30% in the past six months.
I'd like to be able to take credit for that but I can't. Every piece
of intelligence we have points to a growing pirate threat but they've
been remarkably subdued which troubles me more then I can say. Being
out on the frontier piracy has been an almost daily occurrence between
the petty warlords that are striking out to the few systems that are
covertly sending out privateers to your run of the mill pirate. In the
beginning the biggest advantage they held was that there were so many
of them and there was just too much space to patrol. But they weren't
all that large a threat because they had limited resources and generally
kept to the relatively easy method of knocking off singletons. Once
we instituted a convoy system we were able to put a large dent in their
operations while simultaneously freeing more units to mop them up. But
the stronger, smarter ones streamlined their operations and actually
begin to form alliances with each other. That turned things nasty. They
turned piracy into a business more along the lines of organized crime.
The pirate's nest EXCALIBUR took out was a conglomeration of three of
the original pirate outfits and a dozen or so independents. And it was
just the tip of the iceberg. One of the smartest things they've done
besides united themselves is to move themselves out of the frontier
and into the Coalsack Nebula. It's a perfect base of operations. They
are in the heart of the region and can make quick strikes and even quicker
retreats, there is no doubt they have operatives aboard both EPSILON
and Outpost ZINDERNEUF who can easily pass shipping information and
most troublesome the 'Sack provides an almost impregnable hiding place."
"What are your plans?" CINCSF asked.
"We've stepped up general exploration of the Coalsack in recent months
and all ships are on the look out for anything even remotely pirate
related and we're continuing to try to ascertain just who on our stations
are passing along shipping information."
"Have you tried getting one of our people inside their organizations?"
Steele nodded grimly. "We managed to get four operatives inside over
the past two years. We lost contact with the first three within weeks
of their insertion."
"And the fourth?"
"Her head arrived aboard EPSILON by general courier last month."
Conrad shuffled in his seat now; a disturbing pattern of piracy was
making itself evident as more of the fleet commanders spoke. This signaled
a dangerous shift in Starfleet's focus- moving away from the "traditional"
galactic powers like the Romulans, the Klingons, the Cardassians, etc.,
and instead concentrating on the smaller, more mobile pirate forces-
something for which many of Starfleet's bigger, more lumbering starships
were not ideally suited.
"The real problem is that these damn pirates don't necessarily follow
any governmental boundaries," he said now, giving voice to the central
concern of piracy. "How do you declare war on pirates?"
Vice Admiral R.B. Hess, Commander-in-Chief of BLUE Fleet -- who had
remained uncharacteristically silent through most of the morning's proceedings
-- stood up. "Then you aren't going to want to hear this," he said as
he touched a button on the console in front of him. Instantly, the holographic
map in mid air above the table in front of them shifted its focus to
an area sandwiched almost entirely between SILVER, GREEN and GOLD Fleets,
and the Romulan Star Empire; however, the map centered on the small
slice of territory bordering GOLD, near where the Romulan Empire intersects
the Gorn governments.
"We've had a lot of reports of piracy in the Daru Zhauir sector on
the GOLD border -- ships missing, Starfleet officers and civilians abducted,"
he said, "and KUSANAGI, from the joint BLUE/GOLD Task Force, was sent
in to investigate. Last word we got was that the trail they'd found
led them to the terraforming station on Teneriffe," he said, moving
the map so that it now centered on this world on the fringes of the
Daru Zhauir sector." He paused, then added, "nothing more substantive
has been reported back as of yet."
Hess took a sip from his own mug before continuing. "INDEFATIGABLE
is going to investigate related activities and follow up on the Oessa
withdrawal once their refit is complete. USS BASTION is already in the
area as well."
He paused again, moving the map so that the Romulan border glowed
pale green against the opaque blue of BLUE Fleet's Area of Operation.
"Romulan activity has increased slightly- probably because of increased
tensions due to the Dalriadans," he added. "They seem to be experiencing
some piracy problems as well, given the concentration of Romulan forces,
though we have no idea if it's of the same magnitude. We've sent DECATEUR
with her sharp teeth, and MERIDIAN with its nice, big AUGUR sensor suite,
to keep an eye on things along the border, see if we can't piece anything
more together." He paused, then added, "USS OMNIS is lying back, in
support of KUSANAGI's investigation of Daru Zhauir."
Anderson raised his head. "This **could** be related," he said. "Perhaps
we could build upon this -- a joint Federation-Romulan task force to
ferret out these common enemies?"
Now, Brooks got up. "I'm not so sure they're innocent bystanders
in this whole thing," he said. Before continuing, he glanced at Hess,
who deferred to the senior man. "CIRCE has been investigating pirate
attacks on the fringes of KRIMA space on the Orestes sector, very near
Daru Zhauir and BLUE Fleet's Area of Operation," he said. "Apparently,
there has been a lot of piracy and smuggling going on out there- but
the Romulans may be involved." He paused before dropping his bomb. "CIRCE
found positive evidence of bursite on a Romulan warbird."
Conrad had, of course, heard this already from Brooks privately.
However, he was no less disturbed by the implications now, hearing it
again in front of the Admiralty. Before he could speak, Steele interjected.
"Is it possible that the Dalriadans were trying to pit us against the
Romulans to cover their involvement in smuggling bursite TO the Romulans?"
Brooks shook his head; his own son had been on the front lines with
NOVA when the Dalriadan had played their hand. "I don't think so. That
would be an awfully costly feint," he said. "I think we're probably
looking at some splinter group or faction of the two governments here.
And there isn't evidence that the Dalriada have any significant amount
of bursite."
Vaun cleared his throat. "Has CIRCE found anything linking the Romulans
and the bursite to the Dalriadan?"
Brooks shrugged. "No -- nothing firm -- but, as far as we know, bursite
is only found on Burrakis, in Sidhe space."
Vaun glanced up. "Perhaps a new source of bursite was found somewhere
else?" he proposed.
Veld watched his friend ponder Vaun's suggestion. "Perhaps," he said
simply, pausing briefly before continuing. "It seems that the Gorn Hegemony
is beginning to flex its muscles again," he said, bringing the map further
along the Federation border so that it was now centered on KRIMA space.
"I've had to dispatch USS JUPITER to run escort to SERAPIS on their
peace mission; they've been attacked twice now since Cestus last year.
Clearly, someone does not want to see a peaceful settlement between
the two Gorn governments."
"Any ideas?" asked Ash.
Brooks' response was immediate. "Probably some of the more militant
clans in the Hegemony," he said. "They prefer to take by force rather
than 'grovel' for their resources. They equate such behavior as being
submissive, like they would be accepting a life of servitude."
Now Hess spoke up. "So what's the plan then? This is awfully close
to BLUE's space- what can we do to help?"
Brooks punched a few buttons on the console; instantly, a bright
dot flashed into existence not too far from the Tybiiran complex within
KRIMA. "First, we need to re-establish a permanent presence within KRIMA
again- if the Gorn are going to get frisky again and piracy is on the
rise, we'll need a base out there. We have plans on the table to rebuild
and re-open DS13 in the near future," he said.
"However, that will take time -- in the mean time, we're increasing
our patrols along the Gorn borders," he said, punching another button;
instantly, a Starfleet insignia with LEVIATHAN's registry numbers came
up on the screen. "LEVIATHAN has been dispatched to the region in an
attempt to flush out one specific group of pirates who are making use
of old Starfleet vessels -- in this case, a refit MIRANDA with a mixed
bag of weaponry." He paused before adding the historical perspective.
"We've seen this before from the Gorn -- they overwhelm and capture
smaller Starfleet vessels and use them to cover their piracy. In fact,
it was LEVIATHAN that recovered a FRANKLIN-Class destroyer from Gorn
hands 5 years ago."
"MIRANDA-Class vessels have long been retired from active duty,"
Steele said. "One could conceivably have been bought, stripped of its
weapons and deflector shields, or even stolen from the GRAY Fleet yards."
"More likely the first, I think," said Anderson. "We'd have noticed
a missing MIRANDA by now."
Brooks nodded. "That's part of what LEVIATHAN is supposed to find
out," he said. "INDEFATIGABLE is also about to head off to look into
pirates operating more towards the Blue-Gold border zone. I'm not sure
yet if the two groups are related or coordinating in any way. If they
are, then this is broader than I really want to contemplate and damned
ambitious for pirates. Still, it can't be ruled out."
CINCGOLD looked down at his notes. "TESLA is currently at BETA for
repair and crew rotation -- she had a nasty experience in testing the
next generation of D-warp engines." He paused before continuing. "However,
she managed to recover USS TSUNAMI and, once her d-warp engines were
repaired, managed to get her home."
Brooks sat down and, for the first time in well over an hour, no
one said a word. Veld, hands clasped in front of him, nodded slowly.
"So we ARE seeing a shift in focus then -- piracy is our number one
problem," he said, sighing softly. He glanced at Ash momentarily, and
then panned his gaze around the table. "It sounds like you're all moving
to head this off quickly -- I like that," he said. "Let's keep the pressure
on -- with tensions still a bit on the high side with both the Romulans
and the Dalriadans, I don't want pirates to pose a danger to our ability
to effectively defend ourselves."
The CINCSF stood up; the others followed suit. "Whatever you need
to bring this under control, you'll have," he said.
Von Mainzel, who had also been quiet while the fleet commanders discussed
their situations, now spoke up. "Well, with the growth in our missions
and requirements, are we talking about an increase in endstrength?"
"I don't think we'll need to do that much." Ash, as the main personnel
officer, responded, "Mainly this is a reorganization of existing personnel.
Still, we do need to up training to account for some of our retention
issues."
The Commander of Training nodded, "I have already started increasing
my instruction staff in response to some of the increased recruitment.
They should be online soon." There were nods amongst the other admirals.
"Additionally I have been working to get the command schools streamlined
and oriented on the latest threats. Commodore Sora'ac of the War College
is running a couple of study groups right now regarding the increased
threat along the Dalriadan border, the Gorn situations and also the
emerging pirate threat and our ship laydown."
"Good, I want copies of those sent around when they are done." Veld
answered to a solid nod of agreement.
"Anything else, Brachthyne?"
"Nothing, sir, the Moon keeps on orbiting." There was a slight glint
of a smile.
"Thanks for your time, gentlemen," he finished.
As the group filed out, he caught Brooks by the elbow. "Hang on a
minute John," he said quietly into his ear.
As soon as the doors closed, Veld led Brooks and Brigadier Sorill
over to the couches near the portal overlooking Wolf 359. As they sat
down, Veld fixed his gaze on Brooks. "Anything on why Cayle's promotion
came through BuPers and not through you?"
Brooks replied by glancing at Sorill. The Vulcan cleared his throat,
and, meeting Veld's gaze, said simply, "You are not going to like what
I have to say."
Twenty minutes later, the two words Conrad Veld could not get out
of his head were "Section 31."
<<NRPG>>
Sorry so long, but that's what happens when you try and connect the
dots between all of the fleet threads.
Respectfully Submitted,
,