Intent is a Paving Stone

Posted on Sun 22nd Apr, 2018 @ 12:19am by Lieutenant Colonel Brooklyn Wellington

806 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Brushfires
Location: Aerospace Offices, SB 109
Timeline: MD 5, 13:00

"Captain on deck!" one of the Yeoman in the outer office called, and all the Marines stopped what they were doing and braced to attention.

"As you were," Suzuki called, and activity in the office resumed. "I'm looking for Colonel Wellington?"

"She's currently in her office, ma'am," replied Lieutenant O'Malley. "I'll take you to her."

"Thank you," the Captain responded, limping along in the young woman's wake.

Wellington had busied herself with going over transition orders and reports of the new fighter compliment that the Starbase was supposed to receive. The chime of the door was a welcome relief as she looked up. "Enter."

"Thank you," Suzuki said, stepping in. "Shall I come to attention and center myself on the hatch?" she asked, wry amusement in her voice.

"Oh!" Wellington jumped up and came to attention. "Sorry ma'am. I wasn't expecting you."

Suzuki waved the hand which wasn't holding her cane, dismissively. "As you were, Colonel. No reason you should have been. Do you mind if I sit? My leg...."

"By all means, Captain. Can I get you something?" Wellington offered.

"Thank you, no, Colonel. I hope that I won't be here long enough to enjoy it -- I have other stops I still need to make this afternoon, you understand." She took the indicated seat awkwardly, stretching her leg out in front of her. "First of all, Hello! Nice to meet you. I'm Suzuki Hikari -- Captain Suzuki. Like the Bajorans, Japanese folk often put our family names first. I have, at the 'request and requirement' of Starfleet, taken command of this base and all Starfleet assets."

Suzuki held up a hand, forestalling the Colonel's comment. "Which, yes, I am aware, does not include UFP Marine personnel and hardware."

"Sir," Wellington began. "It is the job of the Marines to protect this base. Order us to attack and we will. Order us to protect and we will," she commented.

Suzuki nodded. "It was actually my intent to tell you the other half of that -- that, if you need anything to complete your mission and my officers aren't responding appropriately, you should come to me, directly. I have a great deal of respect for Marines and the job they do."

The Captain made a motion as if pushing things out of the way on an imaginary desk. "But there's another reason I came to see you. USS Hermes is due in port soon. You'll be trading one of your fighter squadrons for one of theirs, and their Senior Aerospace Officer, Major Cassidy, is bringing technical readouts and construction plans for a next-generation fighter weapon system. These things are so highly classified that the plans are restricted from being broadcast on subspace, and they require a separate hand-carried key to decrypt."

"Sounds interesting, ma'am. I look forward to the specifications to see what these new fighters are capable of," Wellington commented with a grin.

"Well, for now, here's the decryption key." Suzuki held up an isolinear rod before tossing it lightly to the Colonel. "It came in this morning's diplomatic pouch."

Wellington caught the rod , placing it next to her terminal. "Thank you, Ma'am. I'll get to studying it immediately. Are there any current requests that you have of my department, Captain?"

Suzuki took a deep breath. "We have evidence that piracy is on the rise in the Triangle, Colonel. And that someone is supplying the pirates with latest-generation cloaking technology. I've got Science working on better detection of such devices, but for the moment, if it won't stress your people too much, I would appreciate it if you could step up CAP and recon patrols. Pay particular attention to mass anomalies."

"I'll make the order immediately, ma'am," Wellington had always hated pirates and those to took advantage of those weaker than them. Also a reason why she wasn't a big fan of the Ferengi. "I take it these cloaks aren't affected by Tachyon grids?"

"Remains to be seen," Suzuki responded. "I've only seen four examples, and in neither encounter did I have the luxury of laying such a grid. It makes sense, though, that they would strive to engineer out the major weakness of the previous generation." She sighed. "Even the mass anomaly is a weak thing -- we speak of ounces that shouldn't be there. I don't actually know if your fighters have the spatial strain gauges required."

Wellington thought for a moment. "Perhaps not but I can assign a runabout to go out and act as a mobile AWACS Platform to help give a more thorough scan of the area, ma'am."

Suzuki nodded. "Thank you," she said. "Is there anything you needed to talk about?"

"Not at the moment, ma'am," Wellington replied.

"Then good afternoon, Colonel," Suzuki said, gathering her cane and getting to her feet. "And good hunting."

 

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