Mission Briefing

[Joe Manning 0]

"What is it?" Admiral Thorne asked as he stepped onto the runabout's cockpit.

 

"You wanted to be summoned if we learned anything new about the Klingons, Admiral." Lieutenant Prescott answered. He stood from the comm station to allow Thorne to take the seat. "We just got word of a tipoff from Gandora colony."

 

"Gandora?" Thorne asked as he sat and looked over the terminal. A starmap of Sector 082 was shown.

 

"It's a border colony populated mostly by drifters and businessmen who have been cast out of other communities. Not a respectable place. But they usually keep each other's illicit activities under cover ... unless someone's activities draw too much attention."

 

"And somebody's drawn attention?" Thorne looked up at Prescott.

 

Prescott nodded. "The colonists like to keep Starfleet out of the neighborhood, so they inform us if a visitor generates too much chatter before that visitor has a chance to cause any serious trouble. The most recent 'chatter' is that a Klingon pirate ship has landed somewhere on their planet to make supply exchanges. Word's been spreading all over the colony."

 

Thorne chuckled and shook his head. "No doubt the pirates are the ones spreading it ... boasting about their deeds."

 

"One deed in particular," Prescott said. "The name 'Cepheus Gamma' has come up specifically. These pirates are apparently the very ones that hit Vladika and the cargo ship."

 

"Outstanding!" Thorne stood from the station. "Change course to the Gandora system, and send word to Trinidad that they are to do the same. We will rendezvous there and pick up this pirate ship's trail."

 

"Don't you want to investigate the Vladika wreckage?"

 

"No, Trinidad's sensor readings of the site will suffice. If these pirates are on the move, I want to get on their trail before it turns cold." Thorne walked to the back of the cockpit and turned back to Prescott. "And while we are there, I want to see to more of a Starfleet presence on this Gandora colony. If this place is being used by Klingon pirates to resupply, it has no business being ignored by our law enforcement arm. This kind of negligence is precisely what allows these jackals to prey on our starships!"

 

* * * * *

 

Commander Mench was half-expecting to find nothing but empty space at the coordinates Gular had provided. Gular had not been completely forthcoming as to the nature of the cargo that they were tasked with stealing from Cepheus Gamma, and QoB had nearly gotten in over it's head on account of the Starfleet communication that Gular had provided no advance knowledge of.

 

Maybe he was half-hoping as well. Raiding a cargo ship was one thing, but QoB had never assaulted a Starfleet space station. Poorly defended Federation colonies on the outskirts, a few times. But never one of their military installations. How were they going to steal aboard the station and rob its communications beacon? How could they take the beacon without tipping the crew off to their presence and starting a confrontation? What did they need the beacon for anyway?!

 

QoB was just over an hour away from the station, under cloak of course. Without any schematics provided by Gular this time, or even any data on assigned personnel or fleet support, they would have to study the station before formulating any infiltration plans. There were too many unknown factors here, too many questions, and each one was urging Mench to abandon the mission and turn QoB back toward Klingon space. But they were closer to Goldrock now than they were to the starting point of their mission, and the potential rewards of completing the mission were simply too enticing ...