Plan 9 from Camelot Station

[Charlotte Matsumura 0]

Plan 9 from Camelot Station

CAPT Roane Townsend (NPC)

LCDR Anna Lorraine (NPC)

***

Securing the sash of her robe around her waist, Anna Lorraine stepped out of her bathroom as the LCARS terminal signalled an incoming transmission. A glance to the screen identified the caller. With a sigh, she flopped into her desk chair, booting up the terminal. “I go out here as a favor; you never call, you never write...”

 

A wry grin twitched across the lips of Roane Townsend as he regarded her across subspace. “I know, I know. I'm a horrible friend. How ever will I make it up to you?”

 

“Well,” Anna drawled, leaning back in her chair, “you can start by telling me why you're calling, and we'll go from there.”

 

The wry grin reappeared, intermingled with a mischievous flicker in his eyes. “What? An old friend can't call out of the blue, when he hasn't been heard from in months, and you've already got a world of trouble on your doorstep?”

 

It was Anna's turn to smirk. “Something like that.”

 

“I'm calling about the Augustine.”

 

Lorraine narrowed her eyes briefly in appraisal, a slight stirring along their link, despite the distance. “You've got a line on her orders.”

 

The Director of Operations nodded. “One of our friends on the Council arranged to cut her orders. Details were classified, but it's what we expected: She was sent to verify the quarantine, deploy a few new-fangled sensors to feed information back to the bug-boys here at HQ, then report back to Camelot Station before heading for some R-and-R.”

 

“...and when they never made Camelot, they sent in Excalibur to find out what happened.”

 

“Something like that.” Townsend pushed aside a PADD. “What are you hearing from the field?”

 

“Nothing good.” Anna paused, reconsidering. “That's not entirely true. The Excalibur away team – the one transported to the surface – has been retrieved. But there was a reactor incident aboard Augustine, and the team aboard was lost.”

 

The captain frowned. “How many?”

 

“At least 4. Mal has the full report.”

 

“Plus the crew of the Augustine.” Townsend shook his head. “Whatever is down there can't be worth that – especially if it had the Klingons running scared.”

 

“I completely agree. But Swain seems dead set on finding out just what happened.”

 

“And what do you think happened?”

 

Folding her arms across her chest, Anna scowled. “I think that the Augustine was dispatched to verify the quarantine surrounding the Dominion base, and to deploy those new science toys for observation. Once they deployed those new toys, someone aboard had to have figured out how to read the transmissions. Then, for reasons I cannot even begin to fathom, someone convinced Ostander to send down an away team.

 

“The team went down,” she continued, “and came back with something in containment – a sample of some sort. Frell, at this point, I have to wonder if they didn't bring back a complete-bloody-specimen. Either way, containment was obviously breached, and the entire crew became the main course for whatever science fair project lives down there.”

 

Townsend sighed, rubbing his face wearily. “Sounds like the plot to every bad science fiction movie going back to the Pre-Eugenics days.”

 

To this, Anna nodded. She reached absently for the cup of tea just beyond her screen, cradling it as she considered the situation further. Her lips thinned over the rim. “And if we don't get Excalibur out of there soon, we're likely to have the really bad sequel.”

 

“With one of our agents in a starring role,” the captain added. Anna recognized the edginess that crept into his voice, at once frustrated and exhausted. “All right – get an updated sitrep from Excalibur. Containment must be maintained. Make her aware; she may yet get a chance to practice her skillset.”

 

“Done. Anything else?”

 

Townsend shook his head. “Just keep in touch. We may have to act quickly.”

 

“The usual, then,” Anna replied with a chuckle. “Speaking of – shouldn't you be having this conversation with Mal?”

 

“Probably,” Roane admitted.

 

“But...?”

 

“But he doesn't look nearly as lovely in a bathrobe.”

 

With a wink and a lopsided grin, the image of Roane Townsend blinked out, replaced by the UFP logo. Anna stuck her tongue out at the screen. She really hated it when he did that.

***