“So reports from the Columbine, Danar isn’t talking, but we know he served a mistress from Ensigns Guyton and Troi’s reports.” The briefing room in the Daystrom Institute held the senior staff from the Exobyte, Annika Hansen, and the chief of security and captain of the Columbine. Everyone had gathered to pool the notes and reports for the investigation into this new Orion incursion. First the Azura, now this.
“I can confirm it was the same woman from the Azura incident, Sir.” Ensign Guyton added to the report, making sure all parties were aware the two were connected.
“When the Columbine arrived in orbit, there was only a trace warp trail from an Orion ship. What was the goal on the station?” asked the Columbine’s captain.
“She and Danar were intent on extracting the ECH. Since the ECH had not been compiled, their control on the situation deteriorated quickly.” Lt. Calvin answered.
“There was little intent from the patrols to actually keep the place locked down. If there was, the Orions are extremely inefficient at the task.”
“It’s quite clear there is a missing puzzle piece in all of this. At some point between Danar attempting to use Lt. Calvin to extract the ECH, and our subsequent win for control of Medical, this Orion mistress made a judgement call to abandon the mission and escape, leaving the subordinates to be captured. Its logical to assume then that the Orions we have in custody are disposable to her and little information can be gained,” Solek surmised. “Is there any course of action, aside from notifying Starfleet and other ships in the sector to watch for this Orion ship, that we can do with this information?”
“No, Ensign, there isn’t. However, you do bring up a valid point that I’ll mention in my report. If the Orions we have are disposable, it is unlikely she will seek to rescue them, and will instead travel back to Orion territory to resupply on crew lost. I believe I have all the information I can gather from you all in this matter.”
The unspoken ‘dismissed’ was revealed when the officers from the Columbine stood to leave the briefing room. The Captain glanced around at his staff and realized he needed to react to this. “Oh, dismissed.”
As the Captain and the remaining Exobyte officers stood, Annika tapped Lt. Calvin on the shoulder. “Lieutenant, might I have a word?”
“Yes, Director, is something wrong?” Calvin asked, sounding a notch more professional.
“Ah, no, Lieutenant, I wanted to ask you about the Captain. He has taken quite a more jovial personality matrix than anticipated. Do you foresee any issues with this from a command and crisis perspective?”
Edgar thought and chewed on Annika’s words, making sure nothing was missed or implied. “Ma’am, I currently do not have enough psychology profile experience on commanders and captains to know if such a jovial disposition could be adverse in a crisis, however, I think with every new crew and new captain small adjustments are expected as the general operations become better tuned and work more efficiently.”
“Not all captains and crews. The Borg do not need such small adjustments, they are efficient upon assimilation.”
“But Ms. Hansen, the Borg do not have a captain aboard each ship, do they?” Edgar inquired, looking for clarity on the subject. Annika simply made a face that implied she knew better, but did not confirm or deny Edgar’s claim.
“Until next time, Lt. Calvin.”
“Until next time, Director.” Edgar responded as the two left the briefing room and went separate ways. In moments, Edgar arrived on board the Exobyte.
——
“Captain, transporter room one reports they have just beamed aboard Lt. Calvin.” Ensign Troi announced on the bridge.
“Fantastic. Helm set a course for the Paulson Nebula, warp seven.” The Captain ordered as Edgar stepped onto the bridge.
“Course laid in, Sir.”
As Ensign Troi engaged the warp drive, he glanced to see he wasn’t the only one who found it odd the Captain commanded, “Allons-y!”
[[end]
