By
Agelshaxe
PROLOGUE
The
hovercraft slowed down smoothly and halted before the large building a few
kilometres out of
«
Rear-admiral. » the ensign had a strong British accent. « Admiral Nechayev has been waiting for you. »
«
I was delayed, there was an accident in town...took forever to get here. » Patrickson explained.
The
ensign nodded and gestured towards the entrance, the
three officers entered the complex and then stepped into an elevator which
brought them in less than five seconds to the highest floor. The doors of the
lift opened and the ensign led Patrickson and his
guard to Nechayev's office.
«
Here is her office, rear-admiral. » the ensign gave a small nod to the two
officers and walked off. Patrickson ordered the guard
to stand outside as he pressed the doorbell of the office. He heard a small
voice say: « Come in. » beyond the door and he entered.
«
Ah...Not a moment to soon, rear-admiral. » the small woman stood at her desk,
looking as positively negative as ever.
«
There was an accident in town. »
«
I see. » she said before gesturing to a chair opposite to her. « Please sit
down. »
«
Thank you. » Patrickson sat down. «So, admiral...What
is so important that it took me out of vacation? »
«
It's about Starfleet Intelligence business. » she said.
Great...
Patrickson thought, frowning.
«
Our Covert Operations Section is preparing to call on our newly created Team 1.
» Nechayev explained.
« Team 1? » Patrickson didn't hide
his surprise. He knew about Team 1 as well as any member of Starfleet
Intelligence. Team 1 was the elite force of Covert Operations, composed of nine
or ten S:I agents. The new team had never met although
they all knew that they were part of the team. They all lived out ordinary
lives-in or out of Starfleet-but when they received a certain code on subspace
they would all reunite in
Nechayev nodded: « A situation has come up. One of our ships
in the Bryson Nebula isn't responding. The USS-Watan. »
«
What's on board? »
«
A scientific team, working on viruses and bacteria... » Nechayev
said. « Pretty dangerous stuff. »
«
Why do we need to send Team 1 on this particular mission? » he asked.
«
Some of the bugs on that ship are forbidden...If anyone found out that we were
studying some of the most killer viruses in the galaxy we'd be in deep trouble.
Even if a Starfleet ship found out. »
«
Okay. I understand. » he said. « You want me to send the code? »
«
As soon as you get back to S:I headquarters. More
information is being sent to your terminal in
«
No, everything's clear, admiral. » he stood up. « I'll be back in
«
Perfect. » she held out her hand and he shook it. « Good
Luck, rear-admiral. »
« Thank you, ma'am. »
Two
hours later, Patrickson entered his office in
Starfleet Headquarters. He activated the lights and let himself fall heavily in
his chair. His terminal screen rose from inside his desk and the Federation
logo appeared on the screen.
«
Computer, activate Starfleet Intelligence access. »
«
Access code required to enter Starfleet
Intelligence network. » said the feminine voice of the computer.
«
Access code : Patrickson
Gamma Tango Eight Seven Beta. »
«
Access code recognize. » the computer said as the terminal entered the
Starfleet Intelligence network.
«
Computer, log onto the Covert Operations section, access code Patrickson Theta Mu Sixteen. »
the rear-admiral said, sounding very tired.
«
Logged on. » the computer said.
«
Access the Team 1 main network. »
The
Team 1 network was protected by a seventeen-digit code that Patrickson
had needed to learn by heart when he entered Starfleet Intelligence. He
remembered the agonizing hours he spent writing the code down hundreds of times
until, finally, he knew it as well as he knew one plus one wasn't equal to six.
When
he entered the code he gave his voice authorization and was brought to the main
network of Team 1. He opened the name list of the eight members of the new Team
1.
Hmmm...he thought as he recognized some names. These
guys are going to beat the heck out of anyone who dares endanger the Federation.
He
prepared the subspace coded message which would be sent to all the members of
the team and double-checked it before sending it.
Soon,
the new team would meet.