"Rally the Troops"

[Mark Garrison 0]

“Rally the Troops”

 

“Deck 14.”

 

The turbo lift hummed to life, whisking Mark away from the bridge towards the security offices. While he had approximately an hour to prepare security as necessary for this incoming ship, more then enough time, but still prudence was a virtue…he guessed.

 

The lift passed deck five as he tapped his commbadge. “Lieutenant Garrison to security.”

 

A second passed before a familiar voice crackled through his badge. “This is ensign Mathews. Go ahead sir.”

 

Greg Mathews was a young ensign, an unfortunate graduate who did well enough in the academy to be deemed worthy for a mission/quest as ridiculous as this. He was a bright kid, if a little clumsy. He’d go far in the fleet if he kept up his performance. “Greg, I need you to call all of the shift division leaders to the security office for a briefing. We have something of a situation developing. But don’t mention anything; we don’t need to start a panic.”

 

Another moment passed before Mathews chipped through again, sounding a bit nervous. “Understood sir, I’ll have everyone here in fifteen minutes.”

 

“Good, I’ll be there shortly myself. Garrison out.”

 

Sixteen minutes later...

 

Lieutenant Junior Grade Rand tried to sneak in, unsuccessfully Mark would add, a minute late, finishing the line up of Alpha shifts division leaders. These were the best men and women in the Excalibur’s security department, and Mark was notably more optimistic that their first potential hostile action on this quest would be handled by the people in this room.

 

As Rand situated herself Mark stood, taking a sip of his coffee before clearing his throat. “Alright people, settle down, settle. I mean you Benson, no more coffee.”

 

Lieutenant Benson, whom Mark outranked by only few more months as service as a full Lieutenant gave Garrison a smirk and a hand gesture known only to humans with dirty minds. Mark waved him off as he returned his attention to the rest of the officers in the room. “Alright people, I called you all here for this mysterious situation that no doubt Mathews told you all about, even though I asked him not to.”

 

The majority of the room looked from Mathews to Garrison, giving him an acknowledged nod of defeat, while Greg did his best to hide in the corner. Mark let a small smile show as he grabbed a padd on his desk, reviewing the data. “Alright, given that you’re my best and brightest, I’m going to assume that you all at least managed to read my memo about the unknown planet the Excalibur is currently traveling to. Roughly thirty minutes ago, the Excalibur launched a probe into the system to determine if the planet was populated, and if so its level of development. Not to long ago, that probe was…destroyed by what we now know to be a ship in the area.”

 

There were a few hushed whispers and eye glances around the room before Benson spoke up. “What do we know of the ship? And the planet?”

 

Mark smiled internally. This was why Geoffrey Benson was his go to man in Alpha shift. He was smart, sly, and knew what the best questions were. “The ship we know little about to be honest, other then that it has the capability to detect and destroy our probes, and that it has the ability to communicate on our frequencies, but that could mean it’s anything between a single shot freighter, or a dominion dreadnaught.

 

“As for the planet in question, it is moderately developed. Pre-warp, circa Earth 2008 thanks to Commander Teykier’s overly specific scientific abilities. Given the lack of present star flight technologies on the planet, we can’t determine if the inhabitants are an indigenous species, and that the ship is not related, or that it’s a colony world and the ship is its protection.”

 

“What if it’s an indigenous species and the ship in question has taken it upon itself to protect them?” Lieutenant Rand barely managed to squeak out, whether from her well known shyness, or embarrassment at showing up late Mark couldn’t tell.

 

“At this point, the planet isn’t our major concern. It’s the intentions this ship that we have to worry about. If they are indeed protecting the planet for some reason, we have to be prepared that they may view our wish to investigate the planet with hostility, which is why you’re all here.”

 

He had his random crewman lackey hand out padds to the division leaders with deployment orders and such. “In approximately…oh…thirty five to forty minutes this unknown ship will be here, to discuss matters with Captain Corizon and Commander JoN’s. Given the state of unknowns here, the ship is currently running at silent yellow alert, with the shields raised. You all know what to do, and normally Commander Segami would be giving these orders, more then likely on the fly but seeing as how he isn’t available I thought we’d have a nice briefing just to smooth out any confusions. That…and this is the first time the new security department will have to prove itself; I’d prefer us not to make any ridiculous mistakes.”

 

Benson, who took a swig of coffee just to rub it in Garrison’s face, spoke again. “Alright…What about the Marines, and Fighters?”

 

“As of right now I don’t have any information available. However, I doubt the Marines and Fighters will get involved unless this becomes a shooting match anyway. For now, our primary goal is tightening security in and around the engineering decks…just in case. Any other questions?”

 

“Yes…” Benson trailed off. “I can’t help but see that you’re not on this deployment sheet. Going to let the grunts fight in the trenches this time?”

 

Mark smirked. “No, I’ll be in charge of the main entrance to Engineering, and the outlying sections with Lieutenant Victria…if I can find her. More then likely the Command Staff will want Segami up on the bridge handling Tactical, a job I’m more then happy to give to him.”

 

There was a series of chuckles throughout the room. No one liked being stuck on the bridge for hours on end with the level of insanity that held this ship together. Mark finished his coffee, setting it down with a thud on his desk. “Any other questions? No? Good, move out.”

Edited January 17, 2008 by Mark Garrison