"The Calm Before The Storm"
Previous Post: "Patience"
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Setting: USS HATHOR, CO's Ready Room
Sitting at her desk in her office, the Romulan/Terran hybrid reviewed once again the Intel on the reported activities along the Cardassian/Federation border. Carefully analysing the results of the latest long-range scans which had indicated a below average number of ships patrolling the sector the HATHOR's CO began to wonder, the Cardassian unlike the Romulans or the Dominion were not known for being the sneaky type. If fewer ships were patrolling the border it could only mean that something had forced Central Command to pull ships away from their regular patrol routes. Knowing this unfortunately did not provide the hybrid in charge of the HATHOR with any clues as to *why* this had been done.
Hearing the sound of the door chime, the Romulan/Terran hybrid placed the PADD she had been holding down on top of her desk and raised her head to greet whoever had requested to see her. "Enter!"
Stepping into the CO's Ready Room like a man on a mission, the Hirogen Sec/Tac officer snapped to attention after having taken only a few steps. "Sorry to bother you Captain, but I thought you would like to know that we are now less than five hours away from the Cardassian border and that we are receiving updated telemetry from the long-range listening outposts."
Hoping that this new Intel might shed some more light on the mystery of the missing patrol ships, the Romulan/Terran hybrid welcomed the news and left her desk to return to the bridge, wanting to study the data immediately as it became available.
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Stepping onto the bridge of the HATHOR, the Romulan/Terran hybrid was a little surprise in finding the ship's XO/CEO also arriving, Dawson having left the bridge for a yet to be determined reason that the CO had every intent on discovering. Not hiding her surprise and concerns, the hybrid confronted her former Academy classmate the moment they had been close enough not to make a spectacle of their conversation. "You left the bridge? Why was I not informed?"
Looking a little frazzled thanks to whatever he had been taken care of over the last few moment, the XO/CEO turned and faced the Romulan/Terran hybrid and replied in a whispered tone, "Sorry, reacted as an Engineer instead of an XO. I wanted to be absolutely certain that the cloaking device was working perfectly before we got too close to the border. Going into Cardassian space is bad enough, but having to lead the ANUBIS means that our margin or error is limited."
Having confidence in all of the bridge's staff, the Romulan/Terran hybrid quickly decided that this had not been cause for her to drop on David in any way, he had after all done what he knew was best for the ship and the mission. "No harm done and you are back just in time to help me evaluate the latest Intel from the long-range listening posts set along the Cardassian border."
Moving to the station reserved for the CEO, the XO accessed the encoded transmission and requested that all data be displayed. Waiting for the computer to comply, Dawson turned to the woman who had followed him to stand behind him as he sat at the engineering station. "Is there a problem? Did previous scans show an increase in the number of patrols? Because if that is the case, our job is going to be made a whole lot more complicated."
Also waiting for the requested information to make its appearance on the screen of the engineering station, the Romulan/Terran hybrid informed her XO of what she had been made aware of. "The complete opposite, according to the last long-range scans several ships have missed their scheduled patrols. My guess is that Central Command has pulled those ships away from their normal routes."
Appearing stunned by the news, the XO turned in amazement at the woman standing right next to him. "Pulled? What could have caused the Cardassians to reduce the number of patrol ships along the border?"
Sharing the curiosity of her XO, the Romulan/Terran hybrid simply nodded and pointed to the screen as the latest Intel began to appear after having been decoded by the HATHOR's computer. "I don't know, but I am hoping that we will be able to get a few more answers with this."
Carefully reading the numerous reports that had been scrolling on the small screen, both the HATHOR's CO and XO soon realized that the latest Intel had only provided them with even more questions instead of answers. Letting out a long sigh of frustration the XO/CEO leaned back into his chair and rubbed his chin as he spoke. "According to this latest Intel, there are only *two* ships patrolling the entire border. At that rate the ANUBIS would be able to reach SURIAL III within having to use its cloaking armour."
Agreeing with the evaluation, the perplexed Romulan/Terran hybrid returned to her chair at the centre of the bridge to contemplate their next course of action. Turning to face the ship's COO, the CO began formulating the plan that she had wanted for her crew to follow. "Ens. Kea, coordinate with all available sources and try to find out if something has happened within this region of Cardassian space? There must be someone out there saying something that might help us understand what has happened."
The HATHOR's COO nodded his understanding and immediately went to work, drawing from any and all sources available to him in an attempt to find something that would shed light on this mystery. Knowing that military channels would be closely monitored and encoded, Ens. Kea instead decided to begin his investigation using civilian comm. Traffic. In addition to being easier to intercept and decode, the discovery of *rumours* could lead him and the rest of the crew to have at least a general idea of what the Cardassian might be dealing with.
Anticipating the CO's next words as the Romulan/Terran hybrid turned to face him, the Hirogen Sec/Tac officer explained what he had already begun doing. "I'll see if I can't get a more precise idea of where this problem is located, whatever it may be. If the Cardassian have pulled almost two dozen ships from this region, they are bound to show up somewhere in one form or another. The sensors may not be able to locate the ship's themselves, but I am sure that we can pick up their trails and get an idea as to where they were heading to."
Having decided to pass by the bridge to see what had been happening, Ens. Mei and Lt. Summers had walked in just in time to hear the last part of the Hirogen's plan which of course caused both women to wonder what had happened. Seeing that the CO had been busy speaking with the FCO, the CMO and Cns both made their way to the XO to ask him for some clarification. Lea was the first to speak, "What's going on?"
Calling up the Intel reports back on the screen, Dawson explained the situation as quickly as he could. "For some unknown reason the Cardassian have pulled the greater majority of their patrol ships away from the border."
Looking pleasantly surprised by the news, Ens. Mei smiled at her friend. "That is good news; it means that we won't have to be as concerned as we were about being detected."
Having become aware of the presence of the CMO and Cns on the bridge, the Romulan/Terran hybrid left the FCO's station and approached the two women. "Perfect timing, glad you are here. Since I gather that Lt. Dawson has explained the situation, I will be brief, I would like for you to assist Ens. Kea in finding out more about why those ships were pulled away from their patrol routes. There must be a clue of this somewhere out there."
Not having anything to say or add, the two women nodded their understanding and headed for the Ops station in order to help Carft has they had been instructed to. In the meantime the Romulan/Terran hybrid had returned to her seat ready to check up on what she had spoken to Ens. Stormwind about. "Helm, report."
Looking down at his instruments, the FCO confirmed what the CO had suspected and mentioned to him only a few seconds ago. "Confirmed, the ships currently patrolling the border have their sensors aimed *inside* Cardassian space. We could literally fly up to them and they would not know until we actually knocked at their door."
Hearing this had only confirmed that whatever had happened had been major and that it could easily turn this blessing into a curse should the HATHOR and ANUBIS become involved in whatever had taken place. Looking at the Vulcan/Human hybrid, the CO made her next orders to be a clear and precise as she could. "Helm, stay on our current course and keep a close watch on those two Cardassian ships. Inform the ANUBIS of what we have found and report any changes to me or Lt. Dawson immediately."
After having received the FCO's nod of understanding the Romulan/Terran hybrid eased back into her seat and tried to imagine what sort of event could have caused such unrest within the Cardassian Union. Suspecting that it would not be something good, the CO feared that this would in time spell trouble for them and maybe even the Federation as a whole.
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Lieutenant Commander Serenna 2006 post #027
Stardate: 60340.1600
Setting: USS HATHOR, Bridge
Stardate: 60340.1610
Serena Switt {serena1141@yahoo.com.au}
Commanding Officer
USS HATHOR
