Covert Mission 3 - Log 3

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 11510.10)

 

A little while later, the announcement came over the ship's comm that the Altair was getting ready to make the jump to the late 22nd century. John stretched out on the sofa in his cabin and got ready for the jump. He laid there for a few moments, then gradually felt himself losing consciousness as the ship made the time-travel jump. A little later on, he woke up and knew the ship had transitioned to the past.

 

He then heard Captain Creighton-Ward's voice over the comm summoning the members of the team to the conference room of the Altair. John got up and exited his room, coming out as the same time as Sara. She smiled weakly at him and John caught up to her. "Are you okay?" he asked, and she gave a wan nod. "My first time travel jump," she breathed, and John smiled. "It's all right, you don't ever get used to it," he assured her as they walked to the turbolift.

 

They entered the car and Randall said, "Bridge." The lift whisked them away and stopped a few moments later. The doors slid open, and the two officers stepped out onto the bridge. They walked across the top level to the door on the left of the bridge, which slid open, and they walked into the conference room. The captain was already there, and smiled at them as they sat down in nearby chairs. The rest of the team arrived within moments, and, after all were seated, the captain went to the head of the table, and sat down.

 

"Good to see all of you," she began. "You know why you're here, so there's no need for me to repeat it. Here's what's gonna happen. After we are done here, we will go to the shuttlebay area. We have a shuttle that has been reconfigured to look like an NX ship shuttlecraft. We will use that shuttle to take us to the Martian spacedock, where the NX-05 starship Columbia is being refitted.

 

"The shield technology that we are giving them will be installed by their engineering team with Lieutenant Randall supervising. The technology will ostensibly have been provided by our Andorian representative," and she nodded to the huge being occupying a nearby seat. The captain continued, "The Starfleet Marines here will be under the command of Lieutenant Randall. When he is not around, I understand Major Hunter will be in command," and she raised her eyebrows at them, a blonde woman nodding back at her.

 

The captain said, "Lieutenant Edwards, your position will be as a navigator on the bridge, as I understand it," and Sara nodded to her. "I will be accompanying you as far as the spacedock," Creighton-Ward said. "For this mission, I will be going by the name Commodore Michelle Bronson, and I am the commanding officer. I will not be on the starship; that is your domain. If you run into any trouble, simply ask to contact me, and, through our coded language, I will attempt to assist you.

 

"I want to remind all of you again; please be very careful what you say or do. Any slips could have grave ramifications on the timeline as we know it. We are 'messing around' with it enough, as I believe the slang term goes. I am confident, however, that we will all do our jobs, and the mission will be a success. We must stop this, for want of a better term, terrorist group from achieving their objective, or our timeline will disappear forever."

 

The members of the team looked uneasily at one another at that statement. The captain said, "Your 22nd century uniforms will be in the quartermaster's office. You will have a half hour to change into them before we meet in the shuttlebay. Any questions?" When no one spoke, the captain said, "Dismissed." The members filed out of the room, and went to get their uniforms. A half hour later, the group was assembled in the shuttlebay. The captain ordered them to board the shuttlecraft, and, a few moments later, flew out of the Altair, heading for the Martian spacedock.

 

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The shuttlecraft arrived at the spacedock, obtained clearance to land, and touched down a few moments later. The captain led the way out of the 'craft, and they walked through the airlock into the spacedock. The place was bustling with activity, and no one spared them a second glance as the captain led them down a nearby corridor.

 

The group came to a wide room with a circular desk in the center, manned by a group of personnel performing various functions. The captain walked up to the desk and asked for admiral Michael Thomas. The secretary asked the captain her business, which was reported, and the secretary spoke into a microphone which was contained in a headset she wore. She nodded to the captain, who nodded to the group, and they followed her to a door onthe west wall of the room.

 

The captain pushed the button for the door chime, and a voice said, "Come." The group walked in and was met by a white-haired man who stood up from behind a desk. The captain said, "Admiral Thomas, I'm Commodore Michelle Bronson from Starfleet HQ, and this is my team." The admiral nodded and said, "You were sent by Admiral Forrest?" The captain nodded. "Well, I'm damned glad to see you," Thomas continued. "It's about time somebody developed some new technology to use against those Romulan bastards."

 

The captain said, "That's why we're here, sir. My team will be led by Lieutenant Randall here," nodding to John as he stepped forward, nodding to the admiral. "He has a full understanding of the new technology, and will be overseeing the installation aboard the Columbia. The Andorian will be accompanying him; he is the official representative of their government." Thomas nodded to the blue-skinned being. "We are very grateful to you for agreeing to share your technology with us," he said.

 

The Andorian regarded him impassively for a moment, then said, "My people are very curious to see how you pink-skins will use this technology." The admiral stared at him for a moment, then gave a small smile. "Yes, I see how you would be," he said, then turned back to the captain. "Commodore, if your team is ready, there's no time like the present." "Aye, sir," responded Creighton-Ward, and turned to John. "Lieutenant, take your team to the Columbia, and begin the installation." "Aye, sir," replied Randall, and he turned to the team. "Fall out," he ordered, and the team left the admiral's office, heading for the airlock which would take them to the starship.

 

END LOG