Other Proposals

[Saylek 0]

Captain Saylek stood impassively as the commodore and her security team escorted Captain Rolf Seiben away from the docking lounge. There were others in civilian garb, probably Challenger officers coming aboard for liberty, who now milled about after stumbling onto the scene of the unexpected arrest.

 

As he watched the lift doors close behind them, his thoughts became more calculating. If Seiben were tried at Starbase 15, there was some probability he himself would be pressed into serving on the board of inquiry. Still, there should be enough senior-ranking officers on the Kentucky, Lantree, and Scorpio, which were all docked at the station. Sitting on a court martial was not part of his plan. It would delay his intended pursuit of those responsible for the raid on Prelax IV.

 

The raiders had been based on a small, swift blockade runner. It had been a bold action to strike so deeply, but their gamble had found the Federation colony unusually vulnerable. Saylek found it interesting that the raid had been conducted while dilithium freighters were being attacked in the adjoining sector. It was possible the incidents were connected or part of some larger motivation. Captain Seiben had told him they'd captured a number of Orions; they might possess some clue.

 

Although the border between the Federation and the Klingon Empire had been hostile for decades, it had nonetheless been static between those pressures. The new detente, coupled with the withdrawal of Organian intercession, offered the Orions a chance to destabilize and shift the regional balance. If Starfleet was going to preempt this sudden resurgence of piracy, they would need to act quickly on the limited data they possessed.

 

He glanced out the viewport at the wounded Challenger, undergoing repairs from their own run-in with Orions. His own ship Columbia had been undamaged during the Prelax raid, but more than half his crew and bridge officers had been brought down by a virulent strain of Andor-Levorian influenza. The contagion was under control, but with the extended recovery period needed, his ship was woefully undermanned. He had hoped for a longer discussion with Captain Seiben, enough time to make his proposal. Columbia was a ship lacking a crew. Challenger was a crew currently lacking a ship. It was only logical.

Edited August 21, 2010 by Saylek