Covert Mission 3

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 11411.02)

 

As John finished his meal in the officers' mess, and was putting his tray in the recycler, he was hailed by an ensign. "Lieutenant Randall, the captain is calling for you, sir," she said. John nodded thanks, and pushed the button of the wall 'com next to the recycler. "Randall to the bridge," he said, and the voice of Captain Ja'Lale answered. "Lieutenant, report to my ready room," it said. "On my way," replied the assistant chief engineer. He turned, and strode toward the door of the officers' mess, which swooshed open at his approach. He walked through it and made his way down the corridor to the turbolift. "Bridge," he said as he entered the car, and the lift sped off.

He arrived a few moments later, and exited the car. He walked across the upper level of the bridge, not making eye contact with any of the personnel on the bridge. He approached the door of the captain's ready room, and pushed the button for the door chime. "Enter," said the captain's voice, and John walked in. He stopped abruptly, however, as he made eye contact with Admiral Jason Baldwin of Starfleet Intelligence. He looked back to the captain, who, from its demeanor, was not pleased about something.

 

"Sit down, Lieutenant," said Ja'Lale, and John sat in a nearby chair. He knew from the tone of the captain's voice that Ja'Lale was in a foul mood. The admiral cleared his throat. "John, good to see you again," Baldwin said, and Randall responded, "Likewise, sir." He then looked straight at Ja'Lale. The captain said, "Lieutenant, against my wishes, the admiral is here to recruit you for a mission. He insists that you join his team because he needs your engineering expertise." John nodded, and the captain continued, "As I said, and as I told the admiral, I do not want you to go; we need you on our current mission. However, the admiral is pulling rank on me this time, so there is nothing I can do but to let you go with him, and hope that you will return to us very shortly."

 

John nodded again, and Ja'Lale said, "That is all, Lieutenant. Dismissed." John turned to Baldwin, who said, "Meet me in transporter room one in five minutes, Lieutenant. You will need your toolkit, your tricorder, and wear a sidearm." John raised his eyebrows at that last, but only nodded, and walked toward the door of the ready room, which opened at his presence. As the door slid shut, just as he started to walk away, John overheard the beginning of a confrontation between Baldwin and Ja'Lale. He quickly walked across the upper portion of the bridge, and made his way to the turbolift. As he stood waiting for the car to arrive, he caught the eye of the Challenger's executive officer, Commander Erica Rinax, who was in command on the bridge. She raised an eyebrow at him, and Randall mouthed, "Starfleet Intelligence." She raised both eyebrows sharply at that, but said nothing.

 

As John prepared to enter the car as it arrived, he also caught the eye of navigator Lieutenant H.G. Reed. He gave her a quick smile and raised his hand. She smiled quickly back at him, but her eyes had a concerned cast to them. He entered the car and said, "Deck 12." The lift whisked him away, and, a few moments later, arrived. He exited the car and went to the equipment room, collecting his toolkit and engineering tricorder. He walked back to the turbolift, and stepped in. "Deck 3," he said, and the lift took off. It arrived moments later, and he exited the car, striding down the corridor to his cabin. He entered and walked straight to the bedroom. He threw some things into a duffel bag, and grabbed his phaser, clipping it onto his belt. He left the bedroom and walked straight to the door. As it opened, he went through it and walked briskly back to the turbolift. "Deck 10," he said, and it sped off.

 

Arriving a few moments later, he exited the car, and walked the short distance to the transporter room. He strode through the door and found Admiral Baldwin waiting for him. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting, sir," he said as he approached the admiral. Baldwin smiled. "Not at all, Lieutenant," he said. He turned to the transporter operator as the two men ascended the dais. "Energize," he said, and the men shimmered out of existence.

 

The men re-materialized in the transporter room of another ship. Baldwin said as they descended from the dais, "Welcome aboard the Avenger, John." The assistant chief engineer nodded. "I thought this room looked familiar, sir," he smiled, and the admiral grinned back at him. "Go stow your gear, John, and report to the conference room in ten minutes. You have the same quarters as last time." "Aye, sir," Randall responded, and he turned left as they walked out into the corridor. He made his way down the hall and arrived at the cabin he had used on his previous mission. He walked in, deposited his bag on the sofa, then went to the head to splash some water on his face. He looked at himself in the mirror as he dried his face with a towel. 'Well, here we are again,' he told himself. He replaced the towel, and left the cabin, heading for the conference room.

 

John strode through the door of the conference room, and found some men sitting around the table. Then, his eyes involuntarily widened slightly as there was also a female at the table. They all nodded to him as he sat down, and John returned the nods. A few seconds later, the door swooshed open again, and in walked Baldwin, along with a man John recognized; Admiral Chuck Hastings. The two admirals walked to the head of the table, and Hastings stood at the podium.

 

"We're all assembled, I see," he began, smiling around the room. "All right. The first order of business is to inform you all this meeting is classified. You each have before you on the table a PADD. Please use them now, and when you finish, replace it before you on the table." Each one present picked up their PADD, and accessed the data. As he read, John's eyebrows slowly climbed. A few minutes later, he finished reading, and replaced the PADD on the table. He made eye contact with both Baldwin and Hastings, who merely gazed back at him.

 

A few minutes after that, everyone had finished reading. Hastings said, "All right, you now know the outline of the mission. Anyone who does not want to participate, this is your chance to leave." A bearded man sitting to John's left arose. He looked around for a second, that walked without a word to the door of the conference room. It opened, and the man left. Hastings looked around. "Anyone else?" he asked, but no one moved.

 

The admiral nodded, satisfied. "Okay. As you read, this mission is going to involve time travel. We will be prepping each of you for a trip back to the late 22nd century. You will become involved in a situation you learned about at the Academy; the Earth-Romulan War. A renegade group from this century has already sent operatives back to that time period. Their objective: to reverse the outcome of the final battle of the war. We have it from reliable sources that they plan to introduce technology not yet available in that time period to assist the Romulans in winning the war.

 

"Our objective is to stop the gang from achieving theirs. We plan to introduce shield technology to be fitted into the specs of the NX class starships of the era. Our studies of the Federation timeline have concluded that this will have a very small, if any, impact on the timeline as we know it. That is why we contacted very specific operatives of our own to carry out this mission. Each of you will have a very vital role in the upcoming mission." He began pointing at each individual seated around the table. John looked around the table as Hastings described each being's role. There was an Andorian, from whom the shield technology would be introduced; Andoria and Earth had already been on good relations prior to the Earth-Romulan War.

 

There were five Starfleet Marines present; Hastings told them they would be going as security for the other members, and would also join the security team of the ship that they would be assigned to. The female of the group was a navigator from the USS Bismarck. Her name was Lieutenant Sara Edwards, and she would be responsible for teaching the other navigator of the ship they would be assigned to the intracities of the shield technology. Then Hastings came to Randall. "John, you will be responsible for the installation of the shield technology aboard the NX class ship," he said. "You will teach the other engineers how to install and maintain it, and all the other adjustments that come with it." John nodded, and Hastings looked around the room.

 

"Everyone knows their assignments?" he asked, and each responded in the positive. "Very well," continued the admiral. "A packet will be delivered to you in your cabins. It will allow you to brush up on the history of the time period we are sending you to. Study them carefully and thoroughly. Your cover depends on how much you are familiar with the late 22nd century. If you let anything slip, it could have grave ramifications, so be on guard at all times. You will have five days to 'cram', as I believe the slang term goes.

 

"All right, that's it for now. Remember, this meeting is classified. Go to your cabins, and begin studying. We will meet back here in five days, and expect a quiz. I expect nothing but your best from each one of you. Dismissed." The admirals left the room, and John was the second one out behind the Andorian. He strode down the corridor, but quickly turned as a female voice called out. "Hey!" it said, and Edwards caught up to him. "I didn't catch your name in there," she said a little breathlessly, and John gave her a small smile.

"Lieutenant John Randall, assistant chief engineer, USS Challenger," he said, and the brunette's eyes widened slightly. "Challenger, huh?" she said. "I've heard a few tales about that ship. You must be proud to be aboard her." "Best ship in the fleet, far as I'm concerned," John replied, and Edwards smiled. "Spoken like a loyal officer," she said, and John gave her another small smile. She cocked her head at him. "Hey, is something wrong?" she asked. "You don't seem to be very enthused about this." "Is this your first undercover mission, Lieutenant Edwards?" asked John, and she frowned. "Are we really gonna be formal here?" she replied. "I would love it if you would call me Sara." John regarded her a few moments, which made the pretty brunette frown again.

 

"You are really reserved, aren't you?" she said softly. "I'll get you to talk to me, Lieutenant John Randall of the USS Challenger. You'll see; we'll be old friends soon." She reached up quickly and kissed him on the cheek, then walked rapidly away. John stood there stunned as she left; he watched her walk away for a moment or two, then turned to walk to his cabin. He knew she had avoided his question, and that wasn't sitting well with him. He entered his cabin, and sat down on the sofa. A time travel mission; he hoped this one would go better than the one the Challenger had taken part in about 2 years ago. He stretched his legs out in front of him, and exhaled deeply, trying to relax.

 

END LOG