Covert Mission 4 - The Briefing

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 11512.22)

 

John shimmered into existence aboard the Avenger. He stepped off the dais and exited the transporter room. He went along the corridor to the turbolift and stepped into the car. "Bridge," he growled, and the lift whisked him away.

 

A few moments later, the lift came to a stop, and the doors opened. John stepped out onto the bridge, and was met with curious stares. He looked toward the captain's chair, and saw Admiral Chuck Hastings stand up and turn to face him.

 

"Hello, Lieutenant, welcome aboard," he said, and John gave a curt nod. Hastings studied him for a few seconds, then waved toward a set of doors to the left of the bridge. John made his way down the ramp and went through the doors. He stopped in front of a desk and waited. Hastings came in the room a few seconds later, and sat down behind the desk.

 

He pushed a button on a panel embedded in his desk. "Admiral Baldwin to the ready room," he said, and leaned back in the chair, studying John. "You look angry about something, Lieutenant," he said, and Randall nailed him with an icy glare. "Don't play with me, Admiral," he growled, and Hastings' eyes widened.

 

"Hey, take it easy," the admiral said, and John replied in a low voice, "I'm not in the mood to take it easy, sir," and Hastings was surprised a bit by the raw animalism in Randall's voice. He knew then the man standing in front of him was not only angry, he was furious. "Lieutenant, I would advise you to be very careful here," he said, and John didn't bat an eyelash. "Noted, sir," he growled, and Hastings' eyes widened again.

 

Baldwin chose that moment to appear, and he walked into the room to find John staring at Hastings, and the engineer was as angry as Baldwin had ever seen him. He walked over to the nearby sofa, and sat down. "John, would you please have a seat?" he said, and Randall turned to look at him; it was the admiral's turn to get the full force of the ice-blue glare of the Challenger engineer.

 

"I know you're upset and confused right now, John," Baldwin continued. "Sit down and we'll fill you in." John stared at him a second more, then sat in a nearby chair. Hastings looked over at Baldwin. "Jason, this man looked like he wanted to kill me," the admiral said. "He was on the verge of insubordination." "Oh, Chuck, get off your dammed high horse," snapped Baldwin. "This boy has every right to feel the way he does. Have you forgotten he just came off a mission where every member of his team got killed? It shouldn't be any secret that we're not his favorite people right now. I also understand he was pretty close with one of them," he finished, looking over to John, who was staring straight ahead.

 

Hastings was clearly mollified by that statement. "Oh," he said. "I didn't realize. I'm sorry, Lieutenant, you have my apologies and my condolences." John looked at the admiral, and his eyes softened somewhat. "Thank you, Admiral," he said. "Now can we get down to it?" Hastings looked at Baldwin, who immediately assumed control of the meeting.

 

"John, what you are about to hear is classified at the highest level," he began, and Randall nodded. "Very well," continued Baldwin. "I trust your captain filled you in on the bare basics?" John nodded. "Yes, sir," he said. "It all sounded incredible to me. Then the captain got to the part about my father, and I've been angry ever since. I would like any further details shared with me now if you have them."

 

"John, we are as certain as we possibly can be that Commodore Braxton was the person who tipped off the Romulan Tal'Shier that your father was a Starfleet operative," said Baldwin. "Marcus was posing as an arms dealer from Rigel X trying to sell phaser Mark IIs to the Romulan buyers." John's eyes widened. "Mark IIs?" he queried. "Those are----" Baldwin quickly nodded. "Illegal in the Federation, yes, but Romulans don't think twice about buying them. These particular Romulans, we learned later, had been personally appointed by the Praetor to acquire illegal weapons to use against Klingon marauders, then were going to blame the Federation for selling the guns to them in the first place."

 

John shook his head. "That's their MO, all right," he growled, and both admirals nodded. "As you know, when the Romulans were tipped off about your dad, they tracked him to the Phobos moon of Mars, and the fight ensued that killed Marcus. The Romulans were disguised as Vulcan traders, and since the races are similar, had no trouble getting into Federation space," continued Baldwin.

 

"The clearance came from the terminal of Commodore Braxton, who of course denied it heatedly, but through a lot of investigative work, she was found to be guilty of the charge. Before our operatives could arrest her, she escaped in a small warp-capable craft to the Neutral Zone. The craft was later found abandoned, but an ion trail was discovered leading into Romulan space from a Romulan vessel, and we are sure that Braxton was picked up by Romulans. She is currently being held on a planet close to the Neutral Zone.

 

"It is our intention to take a craft to the Neutral Zone, park it on our side, then use a cloaked shuttlecraft to enter Romulan space. We'll have to move fast once we get there; if we're discovered, well, you of all people know what will happen," finished the admiral, and John nodded, giving a wry smile.

 

"So this one is just that cut and dried, then," he said, and Baldwin grinned. "Pretty much," he said. "I knew you would want to be there because of your dad. You'll finally get the chance to face the person responsible for your father's death." John looked at Baldwin. "And I appreciate that more than you know, sir," he said in a somber tone, and the admirals shared a glance. "I'm ready to put this behind me and move on," said John, and Baldwin nodded. "We will endeavor to help you with that, John," he said. "The team is aboard, and we're ready to go. It'll take a few hours, so if you want to get some rest, now would be a good time. Did you eat anything at the starbase?"

 

John shook his head, and Baldwin continued, "Well, grab something in the mess hall if you want, then get some rest. You'll hear the announcement when we arrive. Any other questions or thoughts, Lieutenant?" John shook his head, and Baldwin said, "You are dismissed, then, and we'll see you later." "Aye, sir," answered Randall, and he arose from the chair, came briefly to attention, then left the room.

 

Hastings watched the doors shut, then looked at Baldwin. "That man is a powder keg waiting to explode, Jason. You really think it was a good idea to involve him in this?" "If I hadn't, and he found that out, he would've killed both of us, Chuck," replied Baldwin. "John idolized his father. That man's emotions run deep when it comes to his family, and he won't let anyone, or anything, get in his way. I'm looking forward to when he meets up with Braxton; it should be very interesting." Hastings shook his head. "You're a cold-blooded bastard, Jason," he said, then got up and left the room.

 

Baldwin just smiled, but the smile faded as Hastings left the room. He had his own reasons for bringing Randall along on the mission. He had been personally offended by Braxton's treason, and was going to make sure, one way or the other, the former commodore paid for what she had done. He sighed as he remembered when he and Braxton had come close to signing a marriage contract before she committed her treachery, and his eyes were shooting sparks themselves as he gazed out a nearby port at the stars.

 

END LOG

Edited December 23, 2015 by John Randall