Departing Starbase 129: Ferrying the Refugees [BACKLOG]

Posted on Saturday October 1st, 2022 @ 2:42pm by Commodore Gregory Paladin & Captain Franklin Johnson & Commander Kanaka Shakura

1,371 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: S1-A1-Ep. 2: Our Foremost Virtues
Location: USS Poseidon; Bridge
Timeline: Departing Starbase 129; Cardassian Refugees in tow
Tags: 2395, Cardassian, Refugees, Starbase 129

[ON]

Commodore Gregory Paladin laughed gently at the joke shared between Captain Johnson and himself, a slight heat concerning the intelligence of a chicken when placed in a desert - entirely specific to their friendship. He gave a gentle pat on Franklin's shoulder as he sat in the Captains chair. Around them the bridge was alive with activity.

Lt. Cmndr. Ky'la De'Lenn was at her station, having already expertly guided the Poseidon from it's docking berth into open space. Lt. Calvin Hirsch had just departed the bridge to help deal with a situation on deck 5 with the refugees, something about a scuffle over limited space in a room. Lt. Michael Stevens was at his post managing the general operations of the ship around her. Lt. Cmdr. Paul Sharpe had appeared briefly on the bridge to man the engineering console, which now was operated by a lieutenant; Paul always the busy and dedicated CEO of the ship. Lt. Cmdr. Sam Perkins was at his station, briefly glancing around to examine the bridge a few times. Lt. Cmdr. Nivora T'vek was down in medical, no doubt much happier since the Starbase had made some headway in repairing it from the explosion. Lt. Cmdr. T'Pri had appeared briefly on the bridge for the send off before returning below and assisting security with the refugees. Major Phoebe Graydon had also appeared briefly on the bridge, down below now assisting T'Pri and Security. Finally, Lt. Serran who was the ships new Chief Cultural Officer was working overtime as he helped assist the ships counselling department with the new refugees.

All in all, the ship was functioning quite normally and, to be quite fair, the Captain and Commodore felt it was an appropriate time to catch up. Catch up they had, going over everything that had happened with one another since they last saw each other a few weeks back. Despite having close proximity to one another, it was very rare now that they enjoyed a respite. Giving a final pat on his shoulder, the Commodore gave a nod of affirmation.

"I've got to return and help the other Chefs with feeding the refugees. We'll talk later, Franklin?" the Commodore inquired hopefully.

"You bet, Greg. Don't be a stranger." the Captain replied as he briefly shook the Commodores hand.

Watching his friend depart, he looked over to his XO, Kanaka Shakura. She was at her station on the bridge, naturally observant as well as keeping tabs on the counselling department as it dealt with the refugees. They had all been settled into the extra unused crew bunks on decks 5 and 6. She gave the Captain a brief thumbs up gesture, signalling she already knew what he was going to ask and was quite ahead of him as per usual. Franklin merely nodded back, returning the gesture with a smile.

"Ms. De'Lenn," Franklin said as he turned forward to the view screen, "Take us to warp. Kick it."

And the Poseidon sailed gracefully in space, speeding up ever exponentially until she broke the warp barrier and sailed further beyond to her destination.

==== LATER =====

The Poseidon's journey to Starbase 47 was continuing much as expected, with nothing of note having come across anyone's radar in the past few hours. During the veteran ship's transit through the warp, her own veteran officers of vast experience were tending to her trainees and the refugees in her care, ensuring that all was running as it should even under these exceptional circumstances.

Kana had remained for the most part on the Bridge, only breaking every so often to check on the Counselling Department and ensuring all was well with the refugees. All seemed fine, though the Executive Officer could not help but still be curious and even a little bit suspicious of their ringleader, Radrom Kondak. It threw her off-guard that she could sense almost nothing from him. In all fairness, he was likely a man who had seen much in his long lifetime, but it was still a rare occurrence for her to meet someone who put up such a fierce wall even at his relative age. This was all very much in Starfleet's court, though, as clearly they had some use to him, so she knew that she ought not to question it much. Though...her curiosity was getting the better of her.

Turning from her station, she looked over at Captain Johnson, who had elected to remain on the Bridge through the entirety of the journey thus far. While there had been no expected diversion or delay to this last leg of the mission, Kana could tell that Franklin took it as something of a moral and personal obligation to oversee the operation now that there were vulnerable people in his care. While she knew that he still felt vulnerable himself in his position as Captain, the Chief Counsellor saw this virtue of his as one of the redeeming reasons that proved to her that he was fit to be where he was currently sat.

Standing and moving over the short distance to join him, she began some quiet conversation.

"Have you had to do something like this before?"

Franklin glanced up to his XO. He had been unaware she had neared, so deep in thought, that when he did look up to her it was almost an admission of being startled. When he recognized who it was - rather quickly, of course - he settled and gave a quick nod. He had been holding a report from a yeoman, glancing over the contents concerning the Cardassians and crew interactions. So far, things had been rather nominal.

"Only once," he admitted. His eyes glancing away from the PAD briefly as they went distant in reflection. "My third and last year on the S.S. Shipman's Quest, matter of fact. I was Dock Foreman. Just a regular Edward-class freighter. We came across a distress signal from a cruise liner of Bolian's and ferried them back to a Starbase. Took about a week and we did all we could to provide amenities. Very interesting time."

He looked up to Kanaka. "And you?" he asked, reciprocating the question.

"Not exactly. I have counselled many refugees once they've made it to the general safe-haven of Federation space, and while serving on U.S.S. Ganymede in the Gamma Quadrant we had our fare share of stranded explorers whom we had to save - sometimes from very dire circumstances - but nothing of this scale..." She smiled and paused for a moment as she looked to the viewport and saw space streaming past them quicker than she or anyone could possibly comprehend.

"I feel as though..." She said quietly, making sure their conversation wasn't easily overheard. "...Starfleet's interests here are not just humanitarian in nature." A little part of her felt awful for suggesting it, but she had been around long enough by now to understand that even Starfleet couldn't always be the paragon that it aspired to be.

"Between you and me," the Captain said, leaning closer and whispering so they could speak more privately, "the Commodore taught me a lot about how malicious Starfleet's intentions can be. Remember that entire episode with the pirates? He spilled the beans to me about something. I can't go deep into it, but let's just say he was out for revenge and almost lost his way."

The Captain kept a glare toward his XO. Not one meant to incriminate her, but merely convey his sense of anger and distrust at the situation. He looked away briefly, before looking back somewhat calmer.

"And after everything we've been through, I trust your hunches," he added. "I'm sure the Commodore knows why they're here. I've had a bit of suspicion myself, something bad in the gut. Same feelings before those pirates ambushed us in those federation Sabre's. I kind of want to get these refugee's off our boat as fast as possible."

With that stated, a more more words were exchanged before the personal briefing. Then they parted to continue their work and mission.

[OFF]

----------

Captain Franklin Johnson
Commanding Officer
USS Poseidon

&

Commodore Gregory Paladin
Mission Advisor
USS Poseidon

&

Commander Kanaka Shakura
Executive Officer
USS Poseidon

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