Union Dues

[Cptn Corizon 0]

With a whirl of the servos that powered the doors that sealed the entrance way to briefing room that overlooked the Round Table room Corizon made his way down the handful of stairs. Waiting for him were the two faces of the senior officers of the station – Misha Abronvonvich and Alexander Calypsos. Smiling he measured both of them up quickly before proceeding further.

 

“Admiral,” he said with a small nod.

 

The salt and pepper haired human returned the nod with small, but pleasant smile of his own. He had the air about him of someone who knew a kindred spirit when he saw it. Corizon knew that they had a lot in common – two men who’d rather be working directly with a situation as opposed to dealing with bureaucracy.

 

“Captain,” Abronvonvich said with a slight Russian accent. “This is Captain Calypsos, station CO.”

 

Corizon nodded towards the taller, almost wispy brown haired man of about forty sitting to the left of the Admiral. “Captain.”

 

“Captain Corizon,” Calypsos said in a much less accented voice that Corizon couldn’t entirely place. “Looks like you went through hell out there … and from the reports.”

 

The Dameon, who was still standing across from the two officers, didn’t bother hiding his surprise and lifted both ears in a quizzical expression. “You’ve read my report,” he questioned respectfully. “You’ll forgive me if I am not a little surprised.”

 

Abronvonvich waived a hand and gestured for Corizon to have a seat. “It’s okay, he’s been brought up to speed by Command. They figured that he should have a decent idea of what was going on around here.”

 

Shrugging in agreement, Corizon took a seat and steepled his fingers. “The Vorta took the device.”

 

“When?”

 

“Just a few minutes before I came over.”

 

Abronvonvich and Calypsos sighed in unison. “You were right about that, then.”

 

“I can’t exactly blame Lexin,” Corizon said thoughtfully. “He’d rather not anyone know about it, and by having it here, he most certainly increased the chances of anyone finding out about it… and our mission.”

 

“That’s true,” Abronvonvich said, reaching for a carafe of water and pouring himself a glass before offering it Corizon.

 

“No thanks,” Corizon said politely. “Honestly, no offense to either of you, but I’d prefer to get this over with as soon as possible. My crew’s getting pretty angsty to get off the ship, and I am sure your repair teams are dying to get to work on fixing us back up… they are fixing it, right?”

 

Calypsos laughed and looked to the Admiral, who was also smirking. “Yes, Ah-Windu, Command has authorized a full repair and minor refit to Excalibur.”

 

“Excellent. “

 

“As for the brevity of the debrief, however…”

 

“I know…”

 

Abronvonvich chuckled lowly. “They did say you were perceptive.”

 

“Comes with the job experience.”

 

“I suppose.”

 

Calypsos smirked and glanced towards a PADD before pushing it over to Corizon. “The repair estimates from my engineers, based on what you guys sent us. I am sure they’ll want to revise it after meeting with your chief.”

 

A sigh escaped Corizon as he looked over the information and either ear dropped to the sides in a sign of a small defeat. “A month?”

 

“That’s correct,” Abronvonvich said, having read the same report. “At least a month. Calypsos has good people working for him – care of Captain Sorehl’s hard-work – but getting a new bridge module in from Alpha, and some of those other repairs will take time.”

 

Corizon frowned. “Couldn’t we just ship out to Antares yards, or hell McKinley for the repairs? Wouldn’t it be quicker, than shipping the parts out here? Besides, what are you going to do with the crew during all this?”

 

“I was about to get to that, Ah-Windu.”

 

Corizon nodded. “Okay.”

 

“Starfleet obviously hasn’t had a chance to fully go through your entire mission logs. We’ve had about a month to get through this all, and with everything happening, well you know how it is.”

 

Opening his mouth to speak, Corizon stopped when the meaty hand of the Admiral shot up, knowing Corizon would have something to say to that. “At any rate, Starfleet is still going through the files. Frankly, as far as your mission goes, we consider it to be a success.”

 

Now that surprised him. “A success?”

 

“The Federation Council has no real vested interest in a stable Dominion, let alone one being run by the Founders – even if it is Odo. What’s that maxim … divide and rule?”

 

“Something like that,” Corizon said, holding back a sigh. He hated when he was right.

 

“The Council is adopting a wait-and-see approach to the whole situation; right now the Dominion has its hands full with the Hundred and about three dozen systems declaring independence.”

 

Corizon nodded.

 

“And then there’s the Scorpiad situation,” Abronvonvich said glumly. “I take it you read the file I sent you?”

 

“Yes, Admiral.”

 

“It’s a complicated situation,” Calypsos interjected. “My people have been working with the crews of the Saladin, the Cavendish and the people back at Starfleet Command, but we can’t find anything that leads directly to them.”

 

“And this has to do with not doing the repairs at Command, why?”

 

“Because your people have the most experience with Scorpiad technology.”

 

Corizon frowned, knowing they were right. “So I am guessing my crew isn’t going to get a month long vacation while the repairs are being made?”

 

Abronvonvich laughed. “You are certainly perceptive!”

 

“It’s a curse.”

 

“At least you’re not surprised,” Calypsos said with a warm, sympathetic smile.

 

“Like Alexander said,” Abronvonvich said. “Your people have more experience in this than anyone else. We’re going to transfer most of your crew to the USS Union. Her crew’s due for a rotation, and her Captain’s stepping down anyway. The others will be assigned to Camelot and Avalon till Excalibur’s ready.”

 

“So you’re handing me someone else’s toy till mines fixed?”

 

“A month, and don’t scratch the paint.”

 

Corizon found the idea rather amusing. “So what are you having us do?”

 

“One of our scout ships came across something… something rather interesting that your people are going to retrieve for us.”

 

“What is it?”

[LeftEar JoNs 0]

“That’s correct,” Abronvonvich said, having read the same report. “At least a month. Calypsos has good people working for him – care of Captain Sorehl’s hard-work – but getting a new bridge module in from Alpha, and some of those other repairs will take time.”

 

The bridge damage isn't that bad. It's a wee little hole breach and stuff.