Covert Ops

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

ENSIGN JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal log Stardate 12212.4)

 

John woke up in his quarters after returning from Starbase 103. He glanced at his

chronometer, and was pleasantly surprised to discover he had slept about 8 hours. He

went to the head, and then put on his sweats to go to the ship's gym for a workout. He

exited his quarters, and walked to the turbolift. "Deck 6," he said, and the lift whisked

him away. He arrived at the rec deck, as everyone called it, and went in, heading straight

for the weight machine. A grueling 45 minutes later, he was breathing hard and sweaty,

but pleased with his efforts and results. He exited the rec room, and headed for the lift.

"Deck 8," he intoned, and the lift took him there.

 

He entered his quarters, stripped off his clothing, and took a semi-hot shower.

He then put on his duty uniform, and decided to get some breakfast. He went out into

the corridor, and headed for the lift. "Deck 4," he said upon entering, and the lift took

him to his destination. He exited the lift, and walked down the hall to the galley. He went

up to the ordering wall, gave and received his order, and sat down to eat. He finished

his meal, disposed of his tray, and went out into the corridor, walking to the turbolift.

"Deck 12," he said, and the lift took him to Engineering.

 

John went along the corridor to the engineering doors, which swooshed open at

his approach. He went in, nodding at several of the crew, and went to his station. He

glanced over to the main console, and saw acting chief Eddie Freeman monitoring

something on his screen. John turned to his own panel, and began his duty day.

A few minutes later, the captain's voice came over the intercom. "Attention all senior

officers, this is the captain. You are ordered to report to conference room 22-B aboard

Starbase 33 immediately. Ja'lale out." John immediately looked over to Freeman. "Want

me to mind the store while you're gone, sir?", he asked. Freeman glanced at him, then

gave Randall his full attention. "Um, think you better come too, ensign," the chief engineer

said. John stared at him a second, then said, "Are you sure, sir? I'm not a senior officer."

"Better safe than sorry, Randall," Freeman said. "Besides, if they don't let you in, you'll

have a couple of hours of free shore leave."

 

John cocked his head a second, then smiled and said, "Well, when you put it like

that, sir," and his voice trailed off. Freeman looked around, spotted Steve Davis, nodded

to him, and said, "Ensign Davis, you have command." "Aye, sir," Davis said, and Freeman

nodded to Randall; the men left Engineering, heading to the turbolift. "Deck 10," said

Eddie, and the lift took them to the transporter deck. The men exited the lift, and went to

transporter room 1, where they walked straight to the dais, stepping up onto it. "Beam

us to the transporter room of Starbase 33, chief," said Freeman. The officer nodded, and,

a few seconds, nodded again to Freeman. "Energize," barked the chief engineer, and the

two men shimmered out.

 

They materialized inside an enormous transporter room (compared to the ship), and

they nodded at the officer in charge. "Conference room 22-B?", asked Freeman. "3 decks

up, lift down the hall to your right, sir," replied the officer. "Thank you," said Eddie, and he

and John exited the room, heading for the turbolift. They entered, and Freeman said,

"Conference room 22-B." The doors closed, and the lift took them away. The men arrived at

their destination, and they stepped out into the corridor. To their left came the subdued

murmur of voices, and they began walking that way. They came to a cavernous room where

several Starfleet personnel of varying rank were slowly milling about, or gathered in small

groups conversing. John looked around for a few moments, then a man entered from a

door in the port side wall; clearly a senior officer just by the way he carried himself. He walked

to the head of the huge round table in the center of the room, and stood in front of a small

podium with the seal of the United Federation of Planets on the front of it.

 

The man spoke into the microphone on the podium: "Please take your seats. We're

about to begin." The crowd assembled around the table, sitting down in the chairs provided.

John and Eddie sat down with the Challenger crew, and Randall whispered to Freeman as

they took their seats. "Something big's going on, sir." Freeman began to reply, but checked

himself as the man at the podium began speaking. "Thank you all for coming. My name is

Admiral Norman Schultz of Starfleet Alpha Quadrant Command. What you are about to see

and hear is highly classified, and must not leave this room." He pushed a button on his

podium, and the lights went out. He pushed another button, and a 3D image appeared

in the center of the table; clearly a starmap. A section of the map began to glow, and the

admiral said, "This is the Romulan Star Empire, as you well know." A blip appeared in the

image, and the admiral said, "This is Lunar Colony R-334." At the mention of the Romulans,

John snapped to attention, and his eyes became riveted on the starmap. Schultz continued,

"It is located a few hours inside of Romulan space. I've brought you all here to inform you

that a recovery mission is to take place on this colony. A high profile Romulan has knowledge

of an impending attack on Federation bases or colonies next to the Neutral Zone.

 

"He has agreed to divulge all information he has in regards to the attack, as well as

information about the Romulan Command, in exchange for asylum here on Earth." At this,

John unconsciously clenched his fists hard, not believing a word of it. The admiral continued,

"We are to initate a recovery mission and retrieve this individual, bringing him to Federation

space." The various crewmembers all looked at one another, then turned their attention back

to the admiral. "How are we going to do that, you might ask?" He glanced to the right side of

the table where a young blonde captain sat ostensibly with her crew, all adorned in black

uniforms with the Starfleet logo emblazoned on them. "A few years ago, not long after the

signing of the Khitomer Accords, Starfleet commissioned a project to test out cloaking

capabilities on Federation vessels. The ASDB has constructed an experimental starship that

served as a platform for testing out a cloaking device. The USS Altair, NX-3000, is that ship,

and has just finished conducting space trials of the cloaking device. It is the first of hopefully

many ships that will be equipped with a cloaking device."

 

Schultz continued, "It is this ship that we will use to conduct the recovery mission;

however, as this is an experimental ship, Altair does not have the adequate personnel required

to successfully carry out a recovery mission. That's why we've asked the crew of the Challenger

to attend this meeting. A number of its senior crew, along with security personnel and Marines,

are to transfer to the Altair to assist in the recovery mission." The crew of the Challenger all

looked at one another, and John was not believing his ears. The admiral said, "Captain

Ja'lale and the Challenger will stay behind to plan out a defense in response to the impending

attack. We've summoned more ships in the area to this station to help with the defense. But,

we'll need to retrieve the Romulan informant to help with the details.

 

"To help with the recovery mission, our operatives managed to secure a Romulan

medium range shuttle to transport down to the colony. Before you arrive there, the recovery

officers will disguise themselves as Romulan Tal'Shier operatives and retrieve the informant."

At this, John's fists clenched so hard he drew blood from one palm, and his eyes turned

ice-blue with anger. Freeman noticed the movement, and began watching the ensign from

the corner of his eye; Eddie knew how John felt about Romulans, and knew the young ensign

was having a hard time with this. Schultz continued, "Once you have secured the Romulan,

you will give him a secret code word so he knows you are Federation operatives. You will

then head back to the shuttle, and return to Federation space on the Altair. Are there any

questions?"

 

Freeman quickly glanced to Randall, who settled back in his seat, and closed his eyes;

Eddie could see him doing deep-breathing exercises, and knew the ensign was angry. The

chief engineer also secretly marveled at Randall's ability to keep his anger under control.

He then turned back toward the table as the blonde captain cleared her throat slightly.

"I see; quite risky, this," she said in an unmistakable British accent. "Altair will be under cloak

for many days, then. Our space trials went well, but we've never attempted to keep the ship

under cloak for so long." The admiral smiled at her, and said, "I'm sure Altair can hold her

cloak that long. All the same, I would like some of Challenger's engineers to transfer over

and help with keeping the device operational as Altair is short-handed in engineering."

 

Schultz then said, "If there aren't any more questions, I'll let you get on to it. Challenger

personnel are to beam over to Altair ASAP. Good luck in your mission, and may fortune favor

the brave. I'd like the Altair to leave within the hour; time is of the essence. I remind you

again, this briefing and mission are classified. Dismissed!" John immediately got up out of

his chair, and went to lean against a nearby wall, still fighting his anger. Freeman watched

him go for a second, then turned to talk to the captain of the Altair. After a few moments,

John stood straight, almost at attention, and watched Freeman. The chief engineer finished

his conversation with the blonde captain, and turned to him, saying, "Let's get going."

John said, "Aye, sir," and followed Eddie out of the room.

 

Once they were in the corridor, Freeman stopped and turned to him. "Randall, you okay?"

John looked at him a moment, then sighed and said, "No, sir, I am not." Freeman nodded, and

said, "I can write an excuse for you if you need to sit this one out." John looked at him, thought

for a second, then slowly nodded. "That might not be a bad idea, sir." Freeman regarded him a

second, then nodded. "Okay, we'll keep you on board the Altair. You can help with the

cloaking device. Sound good?" The young ensign smiled in genuine relief, and nodded. "Thank

you, sir." Freeman half-smiled, clapped him lightly on the shoulder, and said, "All right. Let's

go get our gear." "Aye, sir," John replied, and the two men headed for the base transporter

room.

 

 

END LOG