Covert Mission 4 - Log 3

[John Randall 0]

OFFICIAL LOG

LIEUTENANT JOHN RANDALL

USS CHALLENGER

 

(Personal Log Stardate 11512.25)

 

The computer woke John at 0630 hours ship's time. He climbed out of bed, stretched, then went to the head to take a shower. 20 minutes later, he stepped out and toweled himself dry. He made his way back to the bedroom and put on his uniform. He then left his cabin and made his way to the turbolift, riding it to the third deck.

 

He exited the lift and walked along the corridor to the mess hall. He went in and went over to the replicator. He ordered breakfast and sat at a nearby table to eat. 15 minutes later, he wiped his mouth for the final time with his napkin, and took his tray to the recycler.

 

He had just finished when his communicator chirped. He reached behind his back, pulled it from its holster, and flipped it open. "Randall here," he said, and the voice of Admiral Baldwin came over the speaker. "Lieutenant, report to the bridge," it said, and John responded, "On my way, sir." He reholstered the communicator and strode out of the mess hall to the turbolift.

 

"Bridge," he said as he stepped into the car, and the lift whisked him away. A few moments later, it came to a stop, and John stepped out onto the bridge. It was designed much as the way the Challenger's was, so he had no trouble navigating as he made his way down the ramp, having spotted Baldwin sitting in the captain's chair.

 

"Ah, Lieutenant," the admiral said as he saw Randall walk up to stand beside the chair. "We are arriving at our destination. What you see before you now is the Neutral Zone," and he gestured toward the viewscreen as he finished speaking. John looked at the viewscreen a moment, then turned back to Baldwin.

 

"We expect to make contact with one of our operatives in a moment or two," the admiral continued just as a ship came into visual range on the screen. The communications officer turned in her chair. "We're being hailed, Admiral," she said, and Baldwin nodded. "On screen." he ordered, and John turned back to the viewscreen as a heavily masked face appeared.

 

"This is Admiral Jason Baldwin of the starship Avenger," the admiral began, but before he could continue, the masked face on the screen spoke in a hurried, slightly muffled voice. "I don't have much time, sir, there's a ship after me," it said. "We have located the package. It is on a planet designated Chrollax III by the Romulans. It's a class-M planet with a breathable atmosphere. The package is being held in a stockade on the large continent in the northern hemisphere. It's pretty well guarded, yet it is vulnerable to a well-planned attack.

 

"The planet is not that far from here, here are the coordinates," it continued, and a few seconds later, the officer at the navigational console turned and nodded to Baldwin. The admiral acknowledged the nod, then asked the masked face on the screen, "Is there anything else you can tell us?"

 

The masked face shook its head. "Good luck, sir, I have to go," it said, and cut the transmission. The view switched back to space, and the ship turned left, going into warp a few seconds later. Baldwin looked at John. "Let's get our team into the briefing room, shall we?" he said, and Randall nodded. The admiral punched his comm button on his chair, and gave an allcall to the team selected for the mission. He then nodded to John, and the two men left the bridge, exiting into the briefing room.

 

A few minutes later, personnel began arriving and taking seats around the huge table in the room. John watched them as they came in, then raised his eyebrows as the chief of security herself, Amanda Richards, came into the room. She spotted John and made her way over to him, sitting in a chair next to him.

 

She smiled at him as she sat down. "Hello again, Lieutenant," she said in a low voice, and Randall responded in kind. "I'm a little surprised to see you here, Lieutenant," he said, and Richards smiled again. "You didn't think I was gonna miss an opportunity like this?" she answered, and John had to turn away, hiding his expression. It was turning into the same series of events that had brought he and Sara together, and her memory was still too fresh on his mind.

 

Amanda's eyebrows came together as he turned away from her, and she quickly laid a hand on his arm. "What's wrong, was it something I said?" she asked quickly, and John shook his head. "I'll explain later," he said, and gave her hand a quick pat. Then Baldwin walked to the podium and began the briefing.

 

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After the briefing, all in the room were told to report to the shuttlebay. The group filed out of the room, and began taking the turbolifts to the shuttlebay. While they were waiting for a car, Amanda came up beside John. "John, did I offend you or something?" she asked in a concerned tone. "I'm sorry if I did." Randall shook his head. "It's not you, Amanda, it's me," he answered. "I was recently on a mission like this, and I got to know a female officer much like yourself, only she was a navigator, and it was her first mission of this type. It turned out to be her last," and he bowed his head, his voice cracking a bit on the last word.

 

Amanda gave a small gasp, and gently took his arm. "Was she killed?" she asked in a very small voice, and all John could do was nod. The security chief squeezed his arm. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry," she whispered. "You cared for her, didn't you?" Randall nodded again. "I'm so sorry," she said again, and John turned to look at her. Amanda looked up at him, and saw the sadness in his eyes. "Are you going to be all right?" she asked, and he nodded. She gave a little smile. "I've been assigned to your team, so I got your back," she said, and there was an undercurrent of steel in her voice.

 

John smiled at her. "I look forward to talking with you when this is over," he said, and she smiled at him. "That makes two of us, Lieutenant," she answered, and squeezed his arm again as they boarded the turbolift.

 

They rode the lift to the shuttlebay, then Amanda became all business as she took charge of the security guards for the team. The team made their way to a strange looking vessel. John recognized it as a warp-capable Romulan shuttle, and wondered how it had been stolen and put aboard the Federation ship. It looked very much like the one the Challenger had encountered on an earlier mission, and Randall was hoping the engineering compartment would resemble the other.

 

To his relief, when they boarded the shuttle, the controls and switches looked very familiar, and John quickly reacquainted himself with them. A few moments later, the team leader asked him if he could run the engines, and John answered in the affirmative. He gave the pilot the startup sequence of the engines, and they burst into life. The pilot requested clearance to leave the Avenger, received it, and the shuttle moved toward the hangar doors.

 

John kept his eyes on the readouts (which were all in Romulan) as the shuttle left the bay, zooming out into space. The pilot asked if he could go to warp, and John, after one last check, gave him the green light. The shuttle's warp engines came to life, and the craft blasted into hyperspace.

 

END LOG