A Cry From the Shadows

Posted on Wed 27th Jun, 2018 @ 12:10am by Lieutenant Jacen Miller & Lieutenant Damion Ildaran

761 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Brushfires
Location: Arrow 5, Near Deck 1550
Timeline: MD 20, 0945
Tags: Jacen

Nordstrom was alone in what she thought of as Shadow Runner, since it was so often Arrow 5 that hung out in the shadows around the base, listening and looking. It had once been a sometime thing. Since the destruction of the pirate ship, it was round-the-clock extra surveillance. She hadn't been on duty when the big dust-up had occurred that cost the base 4 fighters ... and 4 pilots. She was actually glad that her friend, Captain Beck, hadn't been here that day. Beck had a nose for trouble.

"AWACS, anything on your sensors?" she asked.

"Nada, chica. Just another boring day in paradise. How about after shift change I take you out for a drink? We'll dance and liven things up," an anonymous male voice answered.

"You have a death wish?" Helena said, eyes watching her sensors. And then there it was.

Instantly, she started the recording and slowly moved closer to the signal. "Got it!" she yelled in her headset, no doubt giving the amorous devil on the other end an earache.

"Patch me to Intelligence, stat!" the Master Warrant Officer ordered, not caring whose toes she stepped on.

On deck 1551 Damion Ildaran, in Durant Repair Services coveralls, felt the silent buzz as the mini-PADD he wore on his wrist vibrated. His eyes widened. The vibration indicated activity from the network of signal detectors he'd spent the last week setting up. Swiftly, he tapped the display and studied the triangulation. He forwarded the results to his department. "Durant to Miller," he said in his Corin voice. Then he headed toward the turbolift at a run.

"Intelligence," a voice said in Nordstrom's ear.

"Anyone there will do," she responded, before the conversation could take her away from the important point. "I have another contact with the same signal type that lead to destroying a pirate ship in our outer perimeter." Identify, idiot! her brain told her. "Uh, this is Chief Warrant Officer Helena Nordstrom on Arrow 5, hanging in the lee of the starbase, near deck 1550. I'm recording, and we're at ... 37 seconds."

Miller had been listening to the comm chatter as he read some reports. He looked up and tapped a few buttons on his desk, opening his comm and transferring Arrow to one of his secure lines. "Chief? this is Lieutenant Miller. I've switched us to a secure channel. Make sure your end is secure as well. Then relax and tell me what you've got."

"We are secure, Sir," Nordstrom replied. "So far I have 63 seconds of a transmission I've pinpointed to Decks 1556 or 1557. Another 15 seconds should reveal which one. It's headed toward Vector zero seven zero mark one three zero. I've compared it to last time, and that's fairly close to the same area as our first pirate. I'll bet there's a cloaked receiver out there right now."

* * *

Miller was taking too bloody long, Damion thought as he neared the turbolift and tapped his foot, waiting for the carriage. He switched to the control desk in his department. "This is Durant," he said, giving his cover name in a low voice. "I need back-up on deck one-five-five-seven, section two-three-beta. The signal is live. Repeat, signal is live."

Again, a brief wait while the computer performed a voice-recognition scan. The turbolift doors opened, and Damion saw a couple of other people inside. He hastily switched his comm device to in-ear reception, which couldn't be heard past his earlobe, and nodded at the couple.

"Understood, sir. A security team is on the way," the duty officer's voice said in Damion's ear.

"Yeah, Ma, I hear ya," Damion replied with a long-suffering look and a roll of his eyes. "I gotta go, Ma. I'll see you later."

The turbolift stopped on deck 1552, and Damion stifled the urge to roll his eyes in earnest. Was it going to stop at every deck?

A young Andorian woman and her Bajoran friend got on and halted between Damion and the lift door. He looked daggers at them but was completely ignored as the lift resumed its descent. "And I told him, you're going to Vulcan, for God's sakes, not Risa! Pack some decent clothes! But does he listen to me? Noooo. And now he can't figure out why the VSA staff are giving him the cold shoulder."

I should have taken the Jeffries tube, Damion thought as the lift stopped yet again.

* * *

"And ... that's it!" Helena said, unable to keep the triumph out of her voice. "Deck 1557, Sir. That's where the signal ... and it's gone. But we have a fix on both ends, Lieutenant."

 

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