Chapter Two
« Commander Kline. » Captain Velasquez
of the USS-Hiroshima shook Kline's hand warmly. « I've got your new
cryptologist already beaming on board the Valiant. And
new orders from rear-Admiral Patrickson. » he winked.
Kline
knew that Velasquez was a long-time member of Starfleet Intelligence Covert
Ops.
«
Thanks. What's your first impression of her, Enrico? » he asked.
Velasquez
shrugged: « She seems real smart and friendly, although she doesn't really
exactly know that this mission has to do with Starfleet Intelligence yet. And
she didn't like the idea of working with another cryptologist, either. »
« Yeah. » Kline nodded. « Ours was also a little grumpy
about it. But I'm sure they'll get along. »
Velasquez
smiled: « I hope so, for your sake, Alan. Two warring crypto-specialists are a
large pain in the neck when things get hot. » he patted Kline on the back. «
Try to make them become friends before one of them gets mysteriously
assassinated in their sleep. »
« Welcome aboard... » said a voice as
hard, cold and unfriendly as duranium in space.
Lieutenant
Yasmin Reeves stepped down from the transporter pad; a lieutenant-commander was
standing there to greet her. Although he didn't seem happy to
do so.
«
I'm Lieutenant Yasmin Reeves. » she said. « The new cryptologist.
»
«
I'm lieutenant-commander Gregory Eskina. » the man put out his hand. « A pleasure. »
She
shook his hand, and then asked: « You are the former cryptologist? »
He
smiled: « No...I am the cryptologist and the Ops officer. »
«
Oh... » she nodded slowly. « Nice to meet you. »
«
The cryptology department is in room 7-2. That's where we will work
together. » he said.
«Uh...Okay.
May I ask where my quarters are? » she asked, shyly.
He
nodded: « We don't have enough room for everyone on board. Only the captain has
a private room. You'll be in room 5 along with our helmswoman Sylvia Burnel,
and the first officer, commander Sutter. »
«
That's fine with
«
Good. The captain would like to greet you at seventeen hundred hours in the
ready room. That's in three hours, you have that much time to settle in. »
Eskina said before stepping out of the room.
Three hours later, Reeves stepped into
Commander Kline's ready room.
Kline
studied the young woman, she was relatively short. Dark brown
hair about her shoulders and tanned skin. She looked around the room
with a look of half-curiosity and half-uncertainty.
«
Lieutenant Reeves. » He smiled. « I'm Commander Kline, have a seat. » He
gestured to a chair and she lowered herself into it.
«
Thank you, sir. » She said.
«
Well, lieutenant. » He sat down in his own chair. « What do you think of the ship?
»
She
nodded slowly: « Yeah...More spacious than other Defiant-class ships
I've seen, the officers look friendly. »
He
nodded: « Don't fool yourself, lieutenant. »
She
frowned: « Sir? »
«
You are now part of Team 1, lieutenant. Congratulations. »
She
stared at him.
«
Yes...I'm part of SI, so is everyone else on this ship. We're the Team 1. » he
said.
«
Team One! » She said, disbelievingly. « But how... »
«
The former leader of Team One... » Kline explained. «...was part of a
conspiracy within the Federation science committees. He was associating with an
extremist scientist that was going to use a genetically enhanced virus to
destroy the inhabitants of all the Non-Aligned planets. We managed to stop him
and his accomplices, thank God. »
She
was obviously overwhelmed: « But...then....why did you need a second cryptologist?
»
«
Rear-Admiral Patrickson thought it would be necessary since our own
cryptologist was promoted to Ops. He doesn't really fancy the idea. » Kline
said.
She
sighed: « Yes...Gregory Eskina, right? He didn't seem too friendly. »
«
Well.... » Kline shrugged. « Greg is not so unfriendly. Once you get to
know him I'm sure you'll get along fi... »
The
computer on Kline's table beeped and a screen moved up from inside the desk. On
the screen was written: Urgent, hail
from Starfleet Headquarters.
«
Excuse me a minute. » Kline said and turned to the message.
«
Requires Access Code Beta. » said a computer voice.
«
Code: Beta, Kline, Eight-Seven-Tango-Point-Jackson. » Kline said.
«
Access code recognized. »
The
face of Rear-Admiral Patrickson appeared on the screen. He looked in a good
mood, not a good sign for Team 1, Patrickson was now know to be happy when the
hardest missions were coming up. Kline sighed.
«
Commander Kline! How are you today? »
« Pretty good, rear-admiral. » Kline smiled weakly. « You seem in a fine mood. »
«
I'm in a grandiose mood, Kline. It's a beautiful day, here in
Seeing the look on Kline's face,
Patrickson chuckled. « Sorry...Well, I've got a new assignment for you and
your crew. Starfleet Intelligence has given birth to a new baby...The USS-Eagle.
»
«
Eagle... » Kline repeated. « And what does this kid do? »
«
It's a new project, devised especially for Starfleet Intelligence. The ship
has a revolutionary...Well; I shouldn't speak about this on an open frequency.
Set a course for Beta Maximus Eight, full speed. Patrickson
out. »
The
screen turned black and descended back into the desk... Reeves asked: « Do you
have an idea about this, commander? »
He
shook his head: « None at all. »
That
night...Reeves stepped into cabin 5. It
was dim and the only light was low and red so everything looked slightly
pinkish. There were three beds in the room, on one of them; a woman was seated,
reading something on a padd. When Reeves entered the room the woman looked up
and gave her a smile: « Good evening. You must be lieutenant Reeves. »
«
That's me. » Reeves nodded.
The
woman stood up and shook Reeves hand: « I'm Commander Janna Sutter. First officer. But you can call me Janna, everyone does. »
« Nice to meet you. » Reeves gave her a smile. « Which bed
is mine? »
« The one all the way on the right. » Sutter pointed at the
bed. « Our conn officer has the middle one, Sylvia Burnel...Well, actually
she's not really an officer, her sister was supposed to be a member of Team 1,
but somehow her sister send her before disappearing. A
strange story. »
« Yeah. » Yasmin dropped herself on her bed with a sigh. «
Wow...what a comfortable bed... » she grunted, sarcastically.
«
You'll get used to it. » Janna assured her.
The
doors of the cabin separated. A sleepily-walking woman entered the room.
« Hey, Sylvia. Our new roommate just came in. » Janna said.
« Really? » Sylvia turned to Yasmin. « Oh! The new crypto-specialist!
I'm Sylvia Burnel, the conn person on board. »
«
I'm Yasmin Reeves. » Yasmin smiled.
Burnel
gave out her hand, and Reeves grabbed it without hesitating.
And
then she gasped and withdrew her hand in a flash.
« What?! » Yasmin exclaimed.
Burnel
smiled, then said: « Computer, lighting to full level. »
The
lights came back to full power and Yasmin saw what she had just touched. A
spidery bionic arm made out of several pieces of metal, connected by small
cables.
«
You....You lost your hand? » Yasmin asked.
Burnel
nodded: « Yeah, a full power phaser blast hit my fingers and burned my arm up
to the elbow. » She pulled up her uniform sleeves and showed Reeves the damage
and the replacement limb. « Doctor Tarses managed to replace the limb, but I
didn't want to cover it with synthetic skin. »
«
Why not? » asked Yasmin.
Burnel
shrugged: « I wouldn't feel...right if I had fake skin on my arm, I preferred
leaving it this way. For now. »
« Okay, girls. » Janna lay down on her bed. « If it doesn't bother you. I'm gonna
fall asleep and get up at oh-five hundred hours. »
Burnel
sighed with a smile: « You really are a masochist, Janna aren't you? »
Sutter
yawned: « You should try it sometimes. »
«
Klingon... » Burnel grunted.
Janna
chuckled and told the computer to turn off the lights.