Research - Part II

Posted on Sat 30th Mar, 2013 @ 12:25am by Colonel Horatio Drake

867 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: http://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/missions/id/3
Location: Deck 27: Drake's Quarters
Timeline: MD-04: 0849

ON:

"Yes, I am fully aware of that Mr. Picket... nevertheless you were the Commanding Officer of Protector during the majority of the Dominion War. Can you not tell me anything about deck one-thousand-and-thirty?"

Ashton had decided not to make this call in his Ready Room... despite it being relatively early in the day, he just couldn't take being stuck in the office anymore, he needed some time out. He was now sitting behind a very similar desk in his Quarters with a man on the screen that had the authoritative stance of a Starfleet Admiral. His years had not been kind to him, what little information Ashton could find on the man informed him he should now be forty eight... he looked rugged and easily a decade older.

"Colonel, there's really nothing to tell" he said smirking, something off screen was distracting his attention.

Picking up a PADD that Ashton had been working on he continued. "Mr. Picket, between twenty three seventy four and twenty three seventy five you had five medical staff on board who each received extensive training in bio-mechanical science - some might regard, experts in their fields. However, according to the Duty Rosters that I could dig up you assigned them to minor research projects and planet-side developments... why was this?"

He was now becoming increasingly distracted. "I honestly have no idea... I had thousands of people on board Protector."

"Sir, we are talking about something very important here... with the discovery of this research laboratory the number one question is how it was operating under the nose of the FCDA and who was operating it." He could feel his teeth clenching.

He giggled... it was obviously a person, mostly probably a woman, who was stealing his attention. "Sorry, Colonel... I can't help."

Slamming his fists onto the desk Ashton raised his voice to yelling point, "GOD DAMN IT!" That seemed to get his attention. "I don't think you quite understand... atrocities have been committed under your command... innocent people have died and had the most horrendous experiments performed on them..." he softened his voice "I have lost men, already two Starfleet Personnel have died as a result of a secondary explosion in the section. There must be something you can tell me?"

The former Commander's eyes dropped for a second or two. "I am sorry, Colonel Drake" he was now giving him his undivided attention. "I feel for you but there really is nothing I can tell you. To my knowledge nothing untoward took place on any of the sealed decks... I mean there was odd energy readings now and again but there were from most of the sealed Decks."

"Was there anyway access could have been gained? How easy would it have been to come and go without being detected?" Ashton inquired.

"Look, Colonel... " he brought his hand up to his mouth. "I know what Starfleet thinks of the FCDA, I'm fully aware of what they think we did. But during the Dominion War, you weren't the only ones stretched thinly. We were operating a station of that magnitude with less than five percent of the normal operational level of personnel. You think we allowed systems to decay and didn't care about the condition of things... well, we did... it was just an absolutely impossible task to perform, priorities had to be made and stuck to. Energy spikes on a sealed deck weren't really of much interest to us... and even if they were, we didn't have enough manpower to investigate anyway!"

Ashton exhaled loudly... it was clear this wasn't going to get him anywhere. Of course, what Picket was telling him would have been obvious had anyone actually bothered to sit down and consider what they had to go through during the war... it was too easy to pin blame, it seemed.

"I see... well..." He started as Picket cut him off.

"Colonel... you seem very young to be a Commanding Officer?"

"Er... well..." the last eight months flashed by him in a nano-second, the familiar feeling of grief lingered for a second more then disappeared.

"Are these the first men you've lost as a Commanding Officer?" He continued.

"They are... " he started to reply.

Picket looked away from the screen briefly before locking his gaze. "As you'll probably know from my personnel file which you've no doubt dug up... I used to be in Starfleet myself... hell, so did most of the FCDA."

Ashton furrowed his brow and wondered why this seemingly vital information was not on his personnel file.

He continued without pausing for any more thought. "I was in command of the USS Indomitable, a Galaxy Class. I left shortly after the Battle of Wolf 359... but, whilst loosing people under your command as a CO is never easy... it is inevitable and it does get more bearable... trust me."

With that he simply terminated the transmission... he hadn't got any full answers to the questions he posed to Ashton but, for some unknown reason, felt the small story fitted... it did. He rose from behind the desk and made a beeline for the door, he was getting no where fast... he hoped somebody else was.

OFF:

 

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