Meeting the Chief Intelligence Officer

Posted on Wednesday December 18th, 2019 @ 4:32am by Commodore Gregory Paladin & Captain Franklin Johnson & Lieutenant Commander T'Pri

1,476 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Shakedown Cruise
Location: USS Poseidon; Captain's Ready Room, Deck 1, Bridge
Timeline: Day 001 - 0630 Hours

[ON]

The preliminary aftermath of the investigation had already hit home. In the Captain's Ready Room, Commodore Gregory Paladin and Commander Franklin Johnson were reviewing some of the reports that had already been filed from the incident. All of it pointed towards a mechanical malfunction, but as of yet, no blame had been laid. On top of this, Starfleet had contacted the Commander yesterday to inform him of two new arrivals today; a new Chief Intelligence Officer and a new Assistant Chief Science Officer. Both were good news, especially following such a horrible accident.

Having sent the greetings over, he had instructed Lieutenant T'Pri to report to the bridge around this time. By now she should have had plenty of time to get adjusted to things, considering their proximity still to Starbase 99. In the interim, the Commodore and Commander continued their polite appraisal of the situation. They talked quietly, sipping on drinks, adjusting to the news that came through, waiting for the CIO to arrive.

T'Pri had been assigned as the new Chief Intelligence Officer. She was instructed to meet Captain Franklin Johnson. Intelligence had garnered some information pertaining possibly to the destroyed fighter on the ships hangar deck, with additional info on possible pirate threats. She was to check up on the Command Staff following the incident, then go about her duties properly as the ships Chief Intelligence Officer.

At the appointed time, T'Pri reported herself to Captain Johnson.

"I am T'Pri, I have been assigned as Chief Intelligence Officer, I come to serve". She said raising her hand in the traditional Vulcan salute.

As with any Starfleet Officer, Commander Johnson was versed in greetings from different cultures. He stood and gave the traditional Vulcan salute. "I welcome and greet your service," Franklin said politely, then gestured towards a seat, "Please, sit. I am very pleased to have you on board, Lieutenant T'Pri."

"Thank You, Sir," T'Pri said as she took the seat the captain gestured towards.

"I request permission take my post and assume my duties. I am also interested in debriefing my staff, Sir," T'Pri said.

"Of course! I'd like you to meet the Commodore now. Commodore Paladin?"

Gregory, who had been rather quiet during the greeting, gave a nod to T'Pri as she sat. He hadn't partook in the greeting, though in truth as he wasn't the presiding ships authority, he had out of respect kept seated. He smiled, "Very pleased to finally make your acquaintance, Lieutenant. I understand your objective here is between yourself, Starfleet Command, and my own person. As such, would you be so kind as to brief the Commander on any permissible information?".

T'Pri looked around. They were the only officers on the bridge at this time.

"Very well Commodore. This is privileged information which The Commodore already knows. You may or may not know. Starfleet Intelligence has reason to believe that pirates operating in the area are taking advantage of the new supply routes and attacking various depots". My job will be to track them down and advance your intelligence so that this ship can better protect the sector with her escort duties". T'Pri suspected that these very pirates may be using extraordinary means to replace key officers in this sector. She kept that to herself as it was not logical to express those concerns without any proof. "As for the incident involving your fighter craft. Furthermore I have been informed of the incident involving the late Lieutenant Jonas Pavan and, if it pleases you, would like to review the investigation. I have been told that the officers to talk to are Lieutenant Karn Karn and Lieutenant J'Loni Mo'Bri." T'Pri stated.

The Commodore visibly flinched when T'Pri made mention of the "Pirates" but otherwise nodded along. When T'Pri finished, Gregory glanced at Franklin, who appeared to have quite the blank look on his expression. Before he could speak, Gregory spoke first.

"You understand, Commander, that by you hearing these words you are bound by secrecy of the highest order," Gregory said, sliding a datapad that he had waiting on the corner of the Captain's Desk over to the Commander. "Please read and sign this NDA order before we continue. I'll go over with you myself any additional details once we're done here today."

Franklin took a moment to review the information on the datapad. He scratched at his chin, pressing the appropriate buttons on the screen and signing. He heaved a sigh, nodding as he slid the datapad back to the Commodore.

"Alright, can I speak now?" he asked, looking to the Commodore specifically. When Gregory nodded, Franklin continued. "So who the hell are these pirates, anyway?".

T'Pri took the NDA PADD from the Commodore and looked it over. "Thank you, Sir." T'Pri said.

"That Sir is what I am here to find out." T'Pri said.

Gregory nodded. "That she is. The Lieutenant here has been assigned to the USS Poseidon as our Chief Intelligence Officer, not only to follow up on our pending investigation results due to the accident, but also concerning recent intelligence about pirate activity near Starbase 47. At this time, I'm not at liberty to discuss the ramifications of this, but needless to say the Poseidon wasn't sent in the direction of Starbase 47 for no reason in particular."

"I thought we were delivering supplies to be sent to a Cardassian outpost world?" Franklin said, a somewhat baffled and angered expression apparent. "Are you telling me my ship is being used for clandestine operations without me knowing?"

The two shared a long pause, a staredown ensued. After a moment, and with a clenched jaw, the Commodore answered.

"No, Commander. Everything I have divulged personally concerning what I am allowed to say is still relevant, I am Director of Academy Operations and this ship is the flagship of the new Academy initiative. That hasn't changed." A moment's pause, Franklin nodding and releasing a sigh as he sat back in his chair. Gregory continued. "What has changed is due to recent intelligence, which again is why Lieutenant T'Pri - a very experienced and seasoned Intelligence Officer - is here. She is a permanent fixture on this ship, an Officer I personally requisitioned. Trust me, Franklin."

Another moment's pause. Franklin, with slightly clenched jaws, gazed at T'Pri in an new-found appraising fashion. He then looked to Gregory, nodding firmly, and thereafter laced his fingers together and placed them on his desk in a relaxed fashion.

"I trust you Commodore," Franklin said, then gazing to T'Pri he added, "and if Gregory trusts you, I do as well. Forgive me for my early assumptions. I was under some very strong false impressions. I'm sorry, Lieutenant."

"Your concerns were valid Sir. No apology necessary. I look forward to working with and for you Sir". T'Pri replied calmly.

"Sir, Can you tell me from your point of view what happened?" T'Pri asked.

Gregory remained silent as Franklin took up the question. He cleared his throat.

"You mean with Lieutenant Pavan?" he asked, scratching his knuckles as he remembered the image from the view screen. "From my point of view it looked like some sort of explosion, probably engine-based. There were no logs of hostile fire of any sort. I'm left to deduce it was a systems malfunction of some sort."

"I see, May I have permission to see all the logs and any sensor telemetry there may be"? T'Pri asked.

"Absolutely!" replied the Commander, almost jovial though not intending to be. He grabbed a PADD and flew his fingers across it, sliding it close to his desks swivel computer, thereafter handing it across to T'Pri. "Here," he said, "everything we have so far."

After the moments pause following the handover, the Commodore glanced at T'Pri.

"See anything new in there?" he inquired.

"I do not at this time however I would like to keep this so that I have a base reference for the incident, with your permission of course?" T'Pri asked.

"Of course," remarked the Commodore, who gave a polite glance to the Commander for clarification; Franklin nodded his permission. "Right then, any questions for us?" Gregory asked, both Franklin and he attentive to the Vulcan now.

"Not at this time, Sir" T'Pri said.

"Very good," remarked Franklin. "I think that about covers it. I'll go ahead and excuse you properly, Lieutenant T'Pri, and wish you well on any investigation you conduct from this. Please, keep both the Commodore and myself appraised of the situation."

At this, both the Commodore and the Commander stood. While Franklin displayed the traditional Vulcan farewell with his fingers, a proper V, Gregory maintained his composure and simply gave a nod.

T'Pri stood and returned his salute with one of her own.

"Thank you Captain, Commodore. May I return to my duties?" T'Pri requested.

"Of course," Franklin stated. "Dismissed."

[OFF]

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