First Contact

[Hunter Matheson 0]

First Contact

 

Kal Matheson's sea bag hit the deck with a thump as he froze momentarily, then eased into a crowd of gawkers that pressed close to the observation windows of Starbase 103. Outside, the USS Challenger drifted into port, the former majesty of the Excelsior refit a shadow beneath its battle scars.

 

"Whoa," muttered a seaman. "Heard they took damage, but didn't know it was that bad."

 

Up and down the line the silence broke with similar thoughts whispered from one to the other, like mourners at a funeral.

 

Kal had been making his way toward Sector Commandant Col. Danielle Jeorsey's office, but the sight of Challenger slipping into berth at Starbase 103 not only brought him up short, it put a knot in his stomach.

 

It wasn't the scarred starship that got to him; he'd seen enough and been on the receiving end a few times during his six plus years on the Kitty Hawk. But he'd heard rumors of a SpecOps buildup in this area of space. As he watched Challenger chug wearily into its docking bay, Kal couldn't help wonder if there was more to his assignment than he'd been told.

 

Wouldn't be the first time.

 

Ten minutes later Kal stood at parade rest, eyes front, before the commandant's desk thinking his apprehension was pretty well hidden as he waited for the colonel finish up before addressing him.

 

"Something on your mind, Gunny?"

 

Jeorsey's question jerked Kal from his thoughts and his eyes dropped to hers in respectful attention. "No, ma'am"

 

She gave a grunt and tossed her glasses on the desk, rubbing her temples as she leaned forward. "Cut the crap, Kal. Thirty years in the Corps's made me pretty much immune to that kind of bull. You got concern written all over you and if you didn't watch Challenger dock you're the only one on the base that didn't. Siddown." A slender finger pointed him into a chair.

 

Tongue in cheek, Kal settled into the chair, forearms resting easily on his thighs, hands clasped between them.

 

Still rubbing her temples, Col. Danielle Jeorsey began, "Cardinal rule is 'don't believe everything you hear,' but in this case...." she let it hang with a shrug and slid a padd toward him.

 

"You already know you've been assigned to the USS Challenger MARDET,*" she said, "Challenger's commanding officer is Captain Fahrouk Ja'Lale, Rigelian and Academy graduate. Not a mustanger.* Not a shoe-in.* He's earned his stripes, and then some.

 

"Served on the USS Churchill and the USS North Carolina, worked several clandestine missions and a few covert* that're still under lock and key* before taking this command. Get the picture, Gunny?"

 

Kal passed the padd back with a, "Yes, ma'am."

 

"So don't let that first 'Fleet command thing fool you. He has a knack for it, often sees things others don't. Not sure if that's a Rigelian thing," she waved a hand, stifled a yawn, and began to rub her eyes. "Follow his orders and he'll back you up, a hundred percent.

 

"First Officer," she flicked another padd toward him and plowed on, like it was her thousandth briefing today, "Commander Erkia Rinax. She's an M.D. and big on psychiatry. Don't let her psychoanalyze you or you'll find you have more buried in your brain than you could ever dream about." Jeorsey stopped rubbing her eyes suddenly and looked up. "And I didn't say that."

 

"Say what, Colonel?" He grinned as they exchanged padds.

 

"It's her first Exoh position, so cut her some slack and don't go all Ooorah on her. She does have some deep cover experience, so she's definitely no pushover. Got it?"

 

"Got it."

 

"MARDET CO is Major Kimiko Johnson. She's West Point, but reupped as a Marine after she paid her dues.* No reason why. Personal preference, I guess?" she smirked. "Decided Marines were a step up from the Army?" Jeorsey's uncharacteristic smirk lingered and Kal couldn't help returning it. "But let's not go there."

 

Back to business.

 

"Security Chief and Tactical Officer is Ensign Long. Get to know him; he might tap you now and then to augment his section, bolster a mission, whatever. Questions?"

 

"Yes, ma'am...." Kal waited for her to look up, which took all of a nanosecond. She had that hell, what did I forget this time look on her face, but he ignored it.

 

"My primary assignment aboard isn't clear, Colonel, and I've heard rumors...."

 

"I'm sure you have,"she broke in, suddenly wide awake, "some true, some exaggerated, a lot of 'Fleet disinformation. SpecOps is being bolstered big time and Challenger is part of it. It's need to know so you'll get final assignment and briefing when the time is right. For now, consider it an ordinary change of station."

 

"Yes, ma'am."

 

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*MARDET - MARine DETachment

*mustanger - someone who has come up through the ranks

*shoe-in - Starfleet sometimes accepted officers who had earned their credentials for command outside the Federation.

*Clandestine missions are those carried out without the operators revealing their presence to the enemy. Typically, SpecOps missions are clandestine. Covert missions are those carried out in deep cover, where the operatives are disguised as locals and, ideally, the presence of foreign intervention is never known. Typically, missions of the CIA are covert.

*under lock and key - classified top secret, records of which are inaccessible to all but the highest clearances

*paid her dues - Graduates of military academies are required to serve a certain number of years as payback for their education.