Early Morning Briefing

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 13002.24

04 July 1969 O.E.)

 

 

John awakened from yet another attempt to sleep. He looked

around at the room his bed was in, thinking to himself how alien it appeared

to him considering his cabin aboard the Challenger. He looked at the clock

on the end table next to his bed. It was 4:43 A.M. on July 4, 1969 (O.E.).* He

knew Commander Zach Murphy had scheduled a briefing for 0600 (he

shook his head; he had to start thinking in terrestrial terms for time now;

6 A.M.), so he decided he might as well just stay up. He arose, and went

to the bathroom just down the hall to take a shower.

 

He finished, toweled himself dry, and went back to the bedroom. He

changed into civilian clothes, and exited the bedroom, heading for the

kitchen. He went to the refrigerator, looked inside, and decided on a glass

of orange juice. 'What else would you drink in the morning in Florida,' he

thought to himself wryly, poured himself a glass, and took it out to the front

porch of the residence. He sat down in a chair, and took a long sip of the juice,

enjoying the quiet, and the relatively cool air of the early Florida morning.

He estimated the temperature at about 68 degrees Fahrenheit, and relaxed,

for the first time since arriving here, he admitted to himself.

 

He reflected a little on the mission that was to come. He felt the away

team had a tall order on their hands. They were trying to stop a terrorist gang,

for want of a better term, from altering history. The organization had sent

operatives back to this time period to stop or sabotage the launch of the

NASA Apollo 11 mission to the moon. John felt that, as usual, Starfleet

Intelligence had been very little help to the team. They had no idea who the

terrorist organization was. They had no idea who the operatives were. They

didn't even know what to look for, or where. Maybe Murphy would provide

more details in this morning's briefing. The team could use all the information

they could get their hands on, as far as John was concerned.

 

He became aware that the light outside had increased, and thought, with

a sigh, it was probably getting close to the time set for the briefing. He arose

from his chair, and went into the house, heading for the dining room, where

the meeting would take place. He entered the room, where some of the away

team were already seated, and went to stand along the back wall, next to the

kitchen entrance. He stood there, leaning against the wall, sipping the rest of

his orange juice. Commander Zach Murphy stood, and addressed the room.

"Is everybody here?" he asked. Commander Erica Rinax, seated at the table,

glanced around, and said, "I believe so."

 

Murphy said, "I believe we're ready to start, though." John, upon hearing

that, downed the rest of his juice, and went into the kitchen to set his glass in

the sink. He came back out, saw Rinax glance at him, and resumed his position

along the wall. Murphy said, "Good morning again, folks. We have some

newspapers and magazines for your information on recent events. Most of it

is centered around the upcoming Apollo 11 launch. We'll be taking the time to

discuss our roles and responsibilities in this mission. We'll be starting in our covert

mission tomorrow, so it's important we must be familiar with our roles. They

will be divided in our individual departments. Mr. Morrison has secured us with

jobs at NASA which will allow us to access the Kennedy Space Center with

relative ease."

 

Morrison said, "Please read over the packet each of you have regarding

your jobs." Rinax reached behind her where she was sitting, and grabbed a

cardboard box. She opened it, and looked up at Murphy. "Commander, did you

want me to pull out the IDs now, or later?" Murphy gave a little smile, and said,

"Uh, now would be great, thanks." Rinax nodded, and pulled a bundle of envelopes

and plastic cards from the box. She began handing out the packets and cards.

John waited patiently as the materials were passed around, then Starfleet Marine

Captain Cassidy Granger held out a packet and card to him. He stepped forward,

took the documents, gave her a quick smile, and stood back against the wall.

 

He opened his packet, and glanced briefly at the ID card, putting it into his

shirt pocket. He then began reading his information while Murphy resumed

speaking. "Your info packets Morrison provided will explain your roles and

respective duties, but basically your roles are based on your departments and

Academy knowledge; for instance, the engineers will be serving as NASA technicians,

and the Marine Corps will be serving as front-line security staff. One thing to note,

however, as this is the mid-20th century, the role of women is quite limited in the

workfield. As you are aware, most women were still at home as housewives, or

working as secretaries, nurses, or other clerical staff. These roles, however, still

will prove invaluable given the access to information of the senior NASA

commanders you will be working for."

 

John continued to read through his packet. It did help in some ways. He saw

he would be relying on his Academy studies a lot here, when they had studied

Earth's space history. In a lot of ways, the Apollo 11 mission was technically

considered the starting point of Earth's venture into space. It had been the first

manned mission to land on the moon, despite attempts by the other superpower

nation of this time period, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, to achieve the same

results. He thought to himself, 'Memory, don't fail me now.' He immediately started

trying to recall the engine components and internal workings of the....Saturn V

rockets, he thought were the vehicles of the time. He read on a little farther, and

breathed a sigh of relief when he came to that designated rocket in his packet.

'Got one right anyway,' he mused.

 

Granger then spoke up. "Commander, will all personnel have ocular and ear buds?"

Murphy nodded. "Yes, we will. They will be well hidden, and should not be detectable

by '60's technology; but, of course, caution is still key when using it. Maintain radio

silence unless it is an emergency or you are sure you're alone." "Aye, sir," responded

Granger. Murphy continued, "Our intial role will be that of surveilliance. To case the area out,

and look for anything suspicious; this will give us an idea of what to look for. We don't

have a lot of info about these people, so we'll really need to be on the lookout for

anything out of the ordinary." John gave a mental groan when he heard that. 'It's 1969,

for crying out loud,' he thought. 'How are we supposed to know what is considered

the ordinary here?'

 

Murphy continued speaking. "Ok. And now we'll move on to the schematics of

the mission. Can someone get the lights?" Marine Hunter Matheson stood, quickly

stepped to the light switch, and flicked it off. He resumed his seat as Murphy turned on

a slide projector that was sitting in the center of the table. John replaced his documents

in the manila envelope they had come in, stuffed the packet under his armpit, folded his

arms across his chest, and shifted his position against the wall. Murphy announced, "Here

is a map of the Kennedy Space Center, located on the northern tip of Merritt Island." The

projector whirred into life, and projected onto the wall a schematic map. "The center is

34 miles long, 6 miles wide, and covers 219 square miles of land; as of December 1968,

launches were conducted from pads A and B at Launch Complex 39," recited Murphy.

The screen changed to show schematics of the launch complex, pads, and the VAB

(Vehicle Assembly Building).

 

Murphy continued, "The VAB, or Vehicle Assembly Building, allows for the vertical

assembly of the Saturn V rockets used in the Apollo space program." John nodded to

himself, remembering learning that in his Academy studies. A thought occurred to him as

Murphy asked, "Questions?" Randall said, "Commander, most of the main components

were assembled there as well, correct?" Murphy nodded. "That's correct, if my historical

research is correct." "Thank you, sir," acknowledged the engineer from Centaurus. Rinax

then spoke up. "Commander, is this the area that we think sabotage may happen, or are

we extending the operation to other areas as well?" Murphy replied, "That's our most

likely suspicion, yes, given that the facility houses everything these people want to target.

I know security will be strong there, but given the capabilities of these people, focus there

is important." John caught that last statement, and thought to himself, 'So, they're still not

telling us everything,' and sighed mentally.

 

As Murphy gestured for the lights to be turned back on, which Randall obliged by

doing so, and turned off the projector, Granger spoke up. "Commander?" Murphy turned

to her. "Yes?" "Sir, we have word that security will be monitoring all areas that pertain to

food, beverages, and the like; to be sure there are no gaps there. It sounds like they're

covering their bases well," she said. Murphy nodded. "Ah, yes, that's right. All areas have

been considered." Lieutenant H.G. Reed, seated at the table, spoke up. "Commander?"

Murphy turned to her. "Yes, Ms. Reed?" "Are we conducting any scans for things that

should not be in this period? Like technology?" she asked. Murphy nodded. "Most

definitely, yes." Reed nodded. "I assume we might find the assassins that way." Rinax

spoke up from her side of the table. "Careful with technology, don't slip. They just had

the first computer-to-computer message sent, they only have eye and heart transplants,

firsts for both things. We have to be very careful."

 

Murphy nodded, looked around, and said, "Are there any more questions? We'd

like everyone to familiarize themselves with the area by tomorrow." Rinax said, "Well,

if anyone else slips with a technology that isn't around yet, report that one quickly."

No one said anything, so Murphy said, "Ok, well, that concludes our meeting if there

are no more questions. And, since it is the 4th, we might have some BBQ and fireworks

planned." He smiled. The meeting broke up, several conversations going on between

the away team members. John thought to himself, 'I need to get a paper, and read up on

the '69 New York Mets.' He pushed himself away from the wall, took his packet out from

underneath his arm, and stretched. Now, he had to figure out what he was going to do

with himself the rest of the day. He thought he would go back out onto the porch, and

read up on his information in more detail. Somehow, he had the nagging suspicion his

very life might depend on what he knew, or didn't know in the coming days.

 

 

 

END LOG *O.E.= Old Earth Reckoning Date