Mission Briefing

[Joe Manning 0]

Date: October 6th, 2389

Time: 2140 hours

Location: Sector 063 by 114 by 220

Status: alert, cloak active

 

From QoB's standpoint, Starbase 215 was set against the backdrop of their ultimate destination -- the Hyades star cluster. The dense group of stars appeared like an oversized dandelion floating just above and behind the space station. It served to remind the crew how deep into Federation territory they were getting, and the station was a reminder of Starfleet's control in this territory. Caution was becoming more critical with every light year of the journey.

 

215 was a standard Starfleet space station of less than moderate size -- 12 levels, including a four-story tall docking bay capable of servicing any trade or cargo ship or a small Fleet cruiser. The top four levels were command levels and crew quarters, the bottom four were industrial levels, and the intervening levels were the common areas for visitors. Fortunately for QoB's crew, no ships were currently docked with the station nor were any Fleet ships on long range sensors. This was a waystation with no particular value to Starfleet and hosting only the minimal traffic between the Federation's core and its distant rimward regions. The first sign of serious trouble could change that very quickly.

 

The communications beacon was visible from the outside. Four antennae of various lengths poked out from the station's bottom-most point. By observing the length of those extensions, Commander Mench could estimate the beacon's size. It was large, almost as big as the armored car they'd grabbed from Cepheus Gamma. Good thing we cleared enough space for the tritanium, Mench was thinking. The beacon would barely fit inside the hold, a break for the crew even if Mench did not think the beacon would be quite this large.

 

The real difficulty would be in getting to the beacon without alerting the station crew. It would have to be disconnected from the station's power grid so that it could be transported to QoB without sustaining damage. Once the beacon was disconnected, the station crew would not be able to contact Starfleet and QoB would be in the clear.