Only the Beginning

[Gage Silver 0]

Only the Beginning

A Granger-Silver Log

 

 

Word from brass arrived once they cleared the Gygax barrier. Orders to rendezvous with the Buffalo Gap and transfer a portion of her special operations teams, shuttle pilots and crews. Then return to port for repairs and upgrades while the remaining crew took shore leave. Praises for a job well done on Grayson. Not the reaction many of them expected from brass, and seeing the incident highlighted in the news that night fueled a thriving cynicism.

 

The flight from Grayson to their rendezvous was solemn and would doubtlessly continue that way to New Topeka. As the first post-sanctioned military intervention and boasting the fewest casualties in Starfleet history, the operation that removed Luca from power was an unprecedented success. But more than Grayson’s sociopolitical climate had changed. The Creek changed. No one could forget the eight-hundred-pound gorilla sitting in the Captain’s chair or the crew-sized elephant staring her down from the corner.

 

Getting out from under that cloud was all the liberty most of the personnel transferred to the Buffalo Gap needed. They were finally en route to Klingon space and the assets that signaled for extraction over a month ago. That wasn’t an exceptionally long time to wait in special operations. Gathering intel was an involved time-consuming process and crossing stellar distances had more in common with the Age of Sail than the Age of Jets.

 

Still, some wondered why now. Starfleet had no reason to play team favorites with the Creek. They hadn’t received deployment orders when initially briefed. Dedicated, better-trained teams could have mobilized sooner and waited near the border. Word was brass didn’t think they had enough to go on, so they didn’t send anyone. Didn’t want to waste time or get caught with their pants down by a clever enemy hoax. But that had recently changed, given their transfer to the Buffalo Gap, and they were the only team available.

 

After stowing their kit, Major Ishiiu told the teams and shuttle crews he’d brief at 0700 the next morning, dismissed them and then pulled Gage aside. Hours later, Gage still sat in the empty mess where he’d retreated, slouched forward at the end of a bench and visibly absorbed in his thoughts. A warning flashed on the tablet next to him as its battery slipped from green to red.

 

“Lookin’ like both of you could use a charge, Sir,” said Cass, as she stopped for a drink, “but at this point I think we all do.”

 

“What?” He gave her a puzzled look.

 

“Your tablet." She half-turned from fixing her coffee at the counter, waggling a finger at it. “It’s flashing red. If you need a charger, I have extra.”

 

Gage stared at the bright screen shining up from the table. He picked it up and blearily scanned the open document before twisting it around. “Cass, got something to tell you,” he said and held the tablet out to her. “Techs finally recovered the files; Intel ID’d our targets.”

 

“Really,” she said, turning to give him her full attention. She left her drink on the counter and wandered over, her enthusiasm up a notch but tempered by his reticence. “ ‘S good,” she said, nodding. “Knowing who they are makes our job a hell of a lot easier.”

 

“Yeah,” he bleakly agreed, still holding out the tablet. “Take a look. Thought you should know before the Major’s brief tomorrow.”

 

“Okay. Sure,” she said, giving him a baffled look before taking the tablet. “Anyone I kno...” she let it hang as she read. She flicked her eyes at Gage then dropped them again to re-read. After two or three times, her expression blanked and she backed up to brace herself against the counter. Visibly shaken, her eyes focused on the tablet.

 

Anticipating the worst and already up, Gage reached the counter in less than a second. “You okay?” he asked.

 

Cass opened her mouth but nothing came out. She stared blankly at the deck, the tablet slipping slowly from her hands.

 

“Hey, Cass,” he said, his voice calm but firm as he lightly gripped the tablet and her hand. “Look at me.”

 

“Huh? What?” Apparently disoriented, she forced a, “Sorry,” and released the tablet. “How..,” she began, then pushed herself away from the counter, trying to get a grip. “Romulans? Why Romulans?” she said on an exhale.

 

“Ask ‘em when we get there,” Gage replied with a subtle smile, setting the tablet aside.

 

“Right. When we get there.” Her head jerked around to eye him but her tone remained more practical, more analytical than challenging. “When I get there, sir. So far as I know I’m the only one on the team, possibly on the ship, who speaks and understands Romulan. That means I go in to verify. Right, sir?”

 

He gave her an uneasy look. “Don’t think that’s a good idea, Cass—”

 

“So,” she sucked in a breath, “someone else goes in, possibly gets caught speaking to the Romulans in Federation Standard.... hell, in English.... They’re captured, the assets’ cover is blown, and then where are we, sir?” She settled her arms across her chest, obviously determined.

 

The expression on his face fluctuated, difficult to read. “Okay,” he reluctantly agreed with a nod. “You lead the team in; Daniels’ll take sniper. Good?”

 

“Good, sir. Daniels is the best, hands down.”

 

Gage nodded again, bringing them back to the present. “Need anything? Another drink?”

 

“Yeah,” she replied, “A good stiff double Jack, but for some strange reason I don’t think the major would take too kindly to me comin’ in to the briefing with a hangover in the mornin’.”

 

He smirked. “Don’t think this boat stocks alcohol — most of the fleet follows regs, y’know. Want water? Juice? Milk? More coffee? Could look in the galley.”

 

She glanced at her cup on the counter and shrugged. “Coffee’s cold. Water’s good,” she replied as she leaned forward to pick up the half-dead tablet and bounce it in one hand. “Sure you don’t want me to charge this up for you, sir? Won’t take a minute.”

 

“Yeah,” Gage replied and studied her. “You gonna be okay if I get your water and the charging cable out of my bag?”

 

“Water’s water, sir. I’m good with it any way.”

 

Gage smirked and looked concerned at the same time. “Meant I’ll get the cable and then your water from the galley.”

 

“That works, too,” she replied with a grin. Studying the tablet again, she shook her head as she absently paged through documents. “Damn, sir. Whole situation is weird. Just plain weird. And what are the chances...” she left off, waving a hand at the document.

 

Gage stared at her for a moment longer but couldn’t think of a reply. Assuring her that he’d be quick, he disappeared into the passageway and returned through the galley less than a minute later, cable in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. Cass’s stare — the sheer concern and disbelief written in her face — stopped him halfway to her table.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Think I saw something I wasn’t supposed to, sir,” she said apologetically. She stepped forward to return his tablet. “It’s.... I’m sorry. Just hope it didn’t have anything to do with the captain’s mast.”

 

Gage gave her a baffled look as he took the tablet, then glanced at the screen and sighed. “Here,” he handed her the water bottle.

 

“No, wasn’t that,” he answered as he located an outlet near the big screen, plugged in the tablet and set it on the counter. Slipping onto a bench, he paused for a moment, perceptibly weighing what he should say. “Was Grayson.”

 

Cass nodded, cradling the water bottle in her hand. “DEVGRU/6 was your dream, sir. Somehow I can’t believe it’s been denied because of Grayson, but,” she bounced the quart bottle in her hand a few times, “wouldn’t be the first time juniors took the fall for a senior.”

 

“Didn't take the fall for the skipper,” he flatly denied and left the rest unsaid.

 

Leaning back, he rubbed his face with a low groan and clasped his hands behind his head, eyes closed against the bright overhead. “Six isn’t the wild FirsTR, Cass,” he explained. “They want people who’ll follow orders; make the right decisions under pressure. Don’t want rogue operators that they have to bail out. That risk teams for their own agenda. No good for the teams. Or the brass's blood pressure."

 

Cass nodded, twisted the cap off the bottle and took a sip, then eased onto the bench next to him, two fingers dangling the icy bottle between her knees. “Gotta be honest, sir. You’re anything but rogue. Aggravating? Hell, yeah. Hard-headed? That, too. But what’s happened just isn’t right; anymore it’s appearances that count more than reality. Tell the truth, there’s no officer I’d rather serve under than one like you.”

 

Gage smiled. “If you haven't noticed, they aren’t playing along with the fleet’s latest PR image. Reality is they don’t care why I did it or that fleet's not gonna hang anybody — still disobeyed higher orders to follow the rogue Captain of the hour. But, y’know, it’s not all bad.” He shrugged and half-chuckled under his breath, fighting a grin as he blurted: “Cause I like it when you serve under me, too, Cass.”

 

After a pause to process that was pretty much sealed by his facial expression, Cass straightened up, her eyes taking on the look that was half way between dangerous and mischievous, leaning way toward the latter. She pointed one finger straight at him, her bottle of ice water open and poised for attack.

 

“Okay, now, that’s a broken promise right there, sir. A definite red light.” Spinning to a stand, she emptied the quart of ice water onto his head, drenching him and splattering it onto the deck. With a slow, satisfied air, she capped the empty bottle and did a three-pointer into the recycler. “Payback’s a bitch, i’n it, sir,” she smirked.

 

He gasped in shock and blinked at the overhead, deflated and chagrined. “Yeah, might’ve deserved that,” he admitted, wiping his face.

 

“Roger that, sir. And it almost makes you Corps material. So where to now?”

 

“Dry clothes. Bed,” he replied and climbed from behind the table. “Night, Cass.”

 

“Night, sir. See you in the a.m.” Giving a wink, she disappeared out the door.

 

“Not funny,” he irritably muttered to the empty compartment.

Edited September 23, 2012 by Gage Silver