Notes on the Agora

Posted on Mon Feb 8th, 2021 @ 8:11am by Second Mate Quinton Beck

4,283 words; about a 21 minute read

Mission: META
Location: Agora- Cherry Lake
Timeline: 0800- MD1

-Start-

{Agora- Cherry Lounge}

The Agora was curved so seeing end to end wasn't possible, it made for a cool trick enlarging the idea of the space while truthfully it was narrow. Recessed alcoves and flush storefront capitalized on every bit of space available to slope backwards. Benches and open green spaces dotted the bottom level, while four floors of shopping arrayed both sides of the metal canyon. The "ground floor" took on a new meaning for the crew as they enjoyed the grass and dirt. There was a small Vivarium and coursing river through it, which emptied into a small lake in a shared basin with the amphitheater. Among other overlooks, there was a lounge which overlooked the aptly named "Cherry" Lake.

The lake was perfectly round, with a small run off to the water filters comprising the "stem of the cherry" for its shape on the Agora Diagram. On the map, the shape was like a crescent moon with the middle of the arc having a larger circular facet. The aft half of the Agora had a downhill slope into the business end of the ship and Engineering Hull. The gouge had been at its worst here, when it ripped out the installed impulse engine. This direction was being regarded as "Downhill", whereas the uphill direction which had branches to the Bridge, School, Habitat levels was now "uphill", despite it being perfectly level with the rest of the ship.

Branagan looked at the layout of this part of the ship, interested to see how the space had been used. It was not traditional, but it worked well for a ship carrying families along with cargo and the people required to work the ship's jobs. She spotted a few places she'd want to check out.

The Security/Tactical Mission briefing was an important meeting for all involved, as they were not a military vessel. The tactical department was often ancillary, and so the role was suborned into Security, itself a subset of Command. Talloc had left in disgrace after his duplicity came to light during the mutiny. Simon had taken over, and Toriza had taken on the contract for the Ranger corps. They needed to organize their assets, it was day one and there was so much to do.

The scenic overlook of the small lake and alpines was surreal. He had never imagined such a beautiful thing on this ship. Othor had put his soul into this, and by god it was gorgeous. Quinton had never imagined such things for himself, and that was why it was important to let others have their way, too. He felt enough people had gathered; if anyone was absent they could get caught up.

Quinton turned to the Command staff, now seated. "Well, hello, everyone, ...So with Talloc having... vacated the position for Tactical... Simon and I will be conducting this meeting. For now, introductions."

He gestured to Kas sitting to his left and he went clockwise from her around the table.

"Kas Shar'Zhen, Our second in Command and defacto supervisor for all departments..."

"Fala Gaz, Owner of the Second Star Transport Line, with thirty years of experience doing the impossible."

"Othor Jaxz, our Chief Steward and the man who brought you all of this." Quinton gestured to the window overlooking the small lake and promenade.

"N'tach K'orinko, a resident who holds a Master of Engines position. Chief Callahan is the department head, but N'tach is here because he can make this ship work when nobody else has."

"There is also Judah..." Judah had no emitters in this room and was limited to the display. His visage had already taken residence in the corner of everyone's screen.

"Colleen Branagan- Our newly appointed Science Officer-"

Branagan nodded to the others, keeping her greeting short. "I'm looking forward to getting to know you all before long." There were quite a few in the room she HAD to know, and one or two she looked forward to knowing.

"And here we have our man of the hour, Simon. He will be taking over shortly, the rest of you, introduce yourselves, if you please."

Quinton stopped and looked at the gentlemen to his right. He looked at Simon Starr, Kas had recommended him as a candidate but there had been no time for an interview. Though his performance had certainly commended him yesterday, and Othor gave his approval, time would only tell.

"Simon, right? Kas told me a little, tell us about yourself. I haven't read over the crew manifest as much as I ought to have, but you certainly came through in fine form yesterday. I'd be face down in a prison transport stasis tube if you hadn't held Talloc and those pit vipers after me. Please introduce yourself."

“Thank you, Captain,” Simon began. “Firstly, a little about my past. I know that some of the crew heard about me joining and they thought that I was another “Fleeter” that the crew didn’t want, or need, considering their current reputation here. Well, I want to clear that up. I used to serve with Starfleet, that is true. However, that is the past, I left as my… superiors were holding me back, probably due to me being much more tactical minded, though I know when to stay and fight, and when it would be better to try and avoid it, and how."

"Oh, I didn't realize you were former fleet, too," the new science officer said. "You were a little less forthcoming yesterday when we met. Now we'll have something to talk about." Branagan's look promised there would be a talk. She felt the air between them needed to be cleared if they were going to work together, and he'd shown her nothing but suspicion so far.

Colleen looked around at others in the room. "In case you haven't heard, and in case it makes a difference to you, I'm also former Starfleet. I've been gone from there a number of years ... farming on the old home planet." Most of the room's occupants met her eyes at least neutrally, and she added cryptically, "Farming doesn't pay much these days."

"I left Starfleet after being posted on a station, not the reason I joined Starfleet, I joined to explore, like most who go through the academy - but multiple transfer requests got denied." A common tale in the fleet post war, people got put where they were needed, there were no chosen roles unless you had someone pulling rank for you.

"I never had the opportunity to use my tactical skills based there, and was effectively always on guard duty all the time rather than looking after a ship. And that is why I left. I have a background in ship tactics, and that was my strongest area in the academy.” Simon replied.

Fala sent a note, knowing his presence here was no accident. Quinton, is he your recommendation? I'm not giving him extra for tactical skills unless we have combat and those rates are already settled in his employee contract.

Judah intercepted the message, replying to Fala directly,

Quinton only replied with a thumbs up emoticon, saying nothing at all.

Though a human, Simon was always thinking on his toes, and even during his introduction, it’s clear he was also looking around the table making a note of the behavior of the rest of the crew that were around the table.

Kas smirked, She had Andorian High Command Captaincy training and wondered what Simon could really do. Quinton relied on her heavily for military knowledge, though he kept a neutral face. He was looking for a paper pusher who could wield a baton to keep the peace, but he'd take anything extra.

Simon continued, “As to my method of working, I will say it how it is, whether the person I am talking to likes what that is or not. You could describe it as brutally honest, as my previous chain of command called it. And if there are any threats to the ship, crew or the mission, then, well, they chose the wrong tactician to mess with.” Simon continues, though no sign of jest in his voice.

N'tach chuckled, it was a good answer. "Here, Here."

"And that brings us to now, and putting this bluntly, the… situation we find ourselves in, with the betrayal of our previous chief tactical officer, there is some distrust in the department, and across the ship. The first thing that the team need to address is showing that we are not all spies, and that we are competent at our jobs, and that there are no other spies on the ship that want to hinder the success of our mission."

Kas looked right at Toriza, who pretended to not notice. She chimed in casually, "I've taken efforts to root out Sheila's remaining people who are trying to remain deep cover. No such thing as certain but Starfleet is still our biggest concern." She made a point of looking at Simon directly as she spoke the last part.

Subtle looks abounding, N'tach was oblivious, politics and shadow games not a tactic he cared to be a part of.

Simon noticed, "Now, I may be ex-Starfleet, but as I said, I no longer work for them, and will be the first to say that there are some among the fleet that disagree with this form of partnership. I disagree with them. From the briefing I’ve received, our mission is going to take us places Starfleet will not, or can not, go to. In that regard, we need to be prepared for whatever we face, and being ready to defend ourselves when we need to."

He had the room, their attention and respect. Quinton signaled his approval to Fala and Kas, adding to Othors and N'tach. The vote carried, he was hired.

..."And finally, though I may seem like a ton of bricks when I need to be, I do look forward to working with you all, and look forward to what our mission will bring in the future.” he finished, unaware there was a choice made already.

“That’s all with me,” and he turned back to the Captain to continue the meeting.

Quinton knew a job interview when he heard one. The man had the measure for the office, that was certain. Looking to his First Officer, he asked her, "That sound like a volunteer? I think he just volunteered right?"

Kas liked the man, he showed confidence without being brazen. Competence was all she needed but hoped this was a start of a true kinship. Quinton preferred a casual command, and left her to be the stick. It would be nice to have a helping hand for that.

After considering for a moment his speech she agreed. Judah had to have exhausted the databanks searching for the best candidate on board.

Kas made a show of thumbing an official document on her padd before sliding it at Simon. "Yeah, he volunteered all right. Hazard pay at every Red Alert, so let's stick to Yellow for now, let me declare the full response if necessary. Our operation has already warranted three fatalities, seventy injuries, over two hundred individual cases of liability claims just in the last week. Try and do better next week okay? Job's yours now, select a staff."

Fala spoke up quickly, "Most of your staff is in place. There are three deputies on duty now, we need at least a dozen more. Bridge, Main Shuttle Bay, Engineering. The Intelligence Department is tasked to supply manpower to Security, the on board Rangers will respond to Tactical department alerts under their own orders but will coordinate with Command department."

Fala had constructed this position in the mere seconds before. Now, a full offer was sent to the padd across from Simon.

Simon gave a knowing head bend once Fala completed the briefing, looking around at the different members of the team she was pointed out. He nodded again at Kas, and then continued to listen to the other business of the meeting.

Quinton knew a more important part of the meeting was now required. Explaining the "reserve fuel tanks".

****
"When we found this ship, we found a number of collected vaults as well. I do mean vaults, it looked like many of them ripped from a planet surface by tractor beam. Well we have those vaults, and that tractor beam. Its contents are a state secret. Rowland here got damn close to infiltrating the vault but Judah was an unexpected hurdle. Thankfully we have agreed on a solution where he has open access to explore with us. Access is prohibited to all unless I, Fala, Othor or Ships Bosun Vicente Escudero are present."

Quinton was a large man by human standards, and Rowland used human parameters for his default look, given his parentage was human. Still, he felt small under those eyes that still didn't fully trust him. Mechanical eyes took on the temperature of the room, and he spoke carefully. Quinton had been adamant their deal remain secret. There were untold treasures and traps inside those vaults; it would take time, and discretion.

"I have been offered an opportunity to work for the ship in procurement role. I was operating under legal orders to retrieve a number of items I had tracked to this vault, missing until it was brought back into normal space and time by all of you. I will be retrieving these in short order and returning them to their rightful owners for a commission. The other items all have homes, and we have legal and ethical bounds to contact the rightful owners when we can identify them. Expect posers to come our way to try and con us, and expect angered parties who will say we hold their stolen property. We have three years to prove reasonably that we have attempted to return all items. When not tasked elsewhere, this will also be my vocation on board."

Simon looked towards the group, and his tactical mind knew that there may be issues, depending on what the cargo was. "Does any of the cargo pose a risk to the crew, internally. I expect there will be... aggressors who may come after the cargo, but are there any internal dangers we need to be aware of and prepare for?" he asked.

Quinton nodded, "Yes, and much of it remains unknown, no way to crack them open right now, and we gotta be careful. Toriza has legitimate claim to share so we only open and plunder when all the members of this council are present. Rowland and the Senior staff will be brought up to speed on anything vital as we are aware of it. Now enough on that."

The Vaults were off limits, best to limit the discussion as well.

Quinton moved to their next item quickly, eager to leave their ill gotten treasures behind. Their legitimate operations were engaging enough, so everyone should be plenty busy.

..."What we are about to carry to Talar is Oricielacum, aka what is sold as "Oricalcum" and we are carrying a motherlode as far as any raider is concerned. The material is sturdy, metallic, and in raw ore form, no special properties. It is used in industrial alloys to make them able to resist far greater ranges of temperatures. I normally wouldn't be this ambitious, but the Federation is... we will get to that."

Kas was next, "Pay attention to the monitors please. Judah?"

Holographics came into play, the ship's master schematics and the warp field it generated on display. The damaged portions of the ship had largely converted to yellow lines in the diagram, the ship was healthy, a few scars and some old wounds, but it looked whole.

She pointed to the warpfield, the parabolas overlaying in increasing arcs to the fore and aft. "Despite the underpowered core, we still boast a very lengthy warp field thanks to the field coils assemblies in both nacelles. Our cargo bays can hold 450,000 metric tons cubed... of just about anything. However, as we are hauling Oricalcum, we can drag them behind us and between the nacelles. Under this configuration we have over 3 million units to move. To put it into perspective, The Talarian Alliance uses a quarter million a month in their industrial society. If we can ferry this much at once, we can become the main provider at tremendous profit per run, trimming costs all along for everyone. That's the goal for this run."

Othor spoke in reply, "Galley is stocked, we are ready for the journey, as to the ship I cannot say."

N'tach scoffed, "We are intact, there are no fires."

Quinton gave a blank face in reply, before saying "I need a systems report, and Chief is still putting engineering together, so I asked for you."

N'tach seemed to consider whether he would respond to the mild confrontation before lazily explaining. "A quarter of the ship is still sealed off, unusable or unfit presently. Honeycombed reinforcement struts were placed in many of the affected areas for hull integrity, and overall we are at 78% of normal, since the Rangers converted some of the space in the unusable decks. We are in no way combat ready. If we get shot at, people will die, systems will collapse."

Fala looked at Quinton harshly, there was more to discuss. He held her gaze and began speaking with ordained righteousness. "We will face attack, almost certainly along the way. We have more than adequate defenses, and Starfleet would appreciate our deploying a scanner if we are attacked so we can get some intelligence on the attackers. Command will orchestrate this mission entirely within the department."

N'tach felt like he was being rebuked, Klingon pride rose in him for the ire of questioning his ability. "If we wish to be in battle there are other outfits with better ships, this is a civilian operation I thought? We feed the raiders a percentage of the load if we must, before taking fire."

Fala leaned forward, "We have insurance to cover small losses but we cannot afford to lose more than 22% of the load before our profits begin to drastically diminish."

Rowland leaned forward to the table. "Captain you were saying something about the Federation and this trip..."

Quinton looked at the man, a Cyborg dressed as Human. Now an officer on his ship, but a skilled one. "Yes, Rowland, the Federation needs this load ferried, they aren't allowed in Talarian space, and no other outfit can carry this much in a single run. Talar is in a bind as a raiding outfit has been throttling them, affecting their bottom line empire wide. We expect raiders to attempt hit and runs stealing small amounts at a time, their cargo capacity would be a fraction of ours."

"We are a lightning rod and a search party all in one." Othor was quiet in his usual mysterious way.

N'tach was still saucy, replying sharply, "Rather like baitfish."

Quinton expanded with a firm voice, "And there is a particular raider we hope to attract and part of N'tach's presence here. A cloaked vessel we believe to be Klingon. To that end we have a tetryon scanner on loan-"

"Given." Fala interrupted abruptly. She intended to hold Starfleet for every penny or scrap she could.

N'tach simply did a half bow in recognition of her point.

"The scanner will assist us in locating a cloaked vessel but only within an eight kilometer radius."

“So a short range, then…” Simon began “potentially, they could be on top of us before we know it… great,” he retorted.

"So, let's back up a moment," Branagan interrupted. "Remember, I haven't been aboard long. We're doing this job for Starfleet, because they can't do it themselves. And we're taking on all the danger involved. Plus, we're expected to do it again and again and again?" She pushed her PADD away and joked. "I'd really hoped for a job I'd survive for a while!"

Continuing, she said, "Okay, I don't know what you know about Tetryon scanners, so here's the deal. Tetryons are subatomic particles, and they normally only exist in subspace, but they have great random energy when they come into contact with normal space. However," Colleen made eye contact with Beck, Simon and several others, "that same activity gives them random momentum and until recently there was no way to track them in normal space.

"This new scanner you have acquired from Starfleet, if it's the latest generation of scanner, can apply a physical model to the randomness and track that reaction rather than the actual tetryons themselves." Branagan thought about what else they needed to understand. "Oh, and if we are bombarded with tetryons, which could happen as a ship comes out of cloaking, then smaller weapons will become useless.

I do have one suggestion, but an engineer will have to work out how to make it effective with the scanner you have," Colleen looked toward N'tach. "If we can make a cloaked ship need to speed up and slow down? Those changes become pulsed tetryon echoes which invalidate the random momentum of the tetryons, and then," she slapped her hand on the table, "then the sensors have them. You can track where they are from longer distances based on the location of those periodic pulses."

Fala beamed, Colleen had made it easy to justify keeping the scanner, and already proven her worth. She was sly, that one.


Simon was used to being thrown into situations like this, thankfully, if the Klingon’s ship were cloaked, then they may want to get closer before revealing themselves. Klingons were known for the attack before questioning approach. He had a run in with some during his time in the Feds, and if a Klingon was picking a fight, then a fight is the only way out of it. Simon knew that much first hand. His commanding officers never seemed to have understood that when he got in a couple of bar brawls with a Klingon during shore leave. Simon is still of the opinion that the Klingon started it.

“Well, we’ll just have to be quick on the draw. If any cloaked vessels are around, then you’ll know about it Captain.” he chimed in.

A smile in response was Quinton's saying to him, "Good, we aren't toothless, and we can deploy the Tiburon if it gets too hairy. Kas set up simulators for the Tiburon crew to run and get familiar with systems."

Kas was still manipulating the holo-display, she acknowledged Quinton but said, "So we anticipate the attack at any moment in these three zones. We have a fairly advanced defensive profile, so long as we don't take direct hits. To help with that, layered vector screens will overlap the common strike areas, airlock seals are reinforced, outer hull is honeycombed in expected buckling zones, emergency bulkheads and field emitters are in place... please go over all of it once you leave here. I expect us to fulfill our mission with well under a 12% loss."

Fala added, "We have licensed weapons as well, two Mk IV Merculite Torpedo Launchers in dual aft tubes. Capacity for 8 shots per reload cycle, 64 total. Also, four "hot-ready" Mk. II-A phasers. We have three of those on the saucer, one facing aft under the shuttlebay."

Vicente added his two cents. "We can only haul at warp 5, but that's still easily twice as fast as others could go with a similar haul. So two weeks there, ten days returning as we won't have to modify the warpfield. If we had a full warp core capacity, this whole trip could be done inside a week at Warp 7."

N'tach snorted, "Our core is under-powered but will perform adequately. This ship has been a patient dying on the table since it was flown in here. It works because we will it to work and all of the systems on board are finally in harmony. Better a weak heart then back to back surgeries."

Branagan asked N'tach, "What about dilithium vector calibration? I know it takes time, but I could help with that, if you want to try it. If the power was there before, it's there still."

A grateful expression crossed Quinton's face briefly, "Thank you, we would appreciate any insights, now let's see what else..."

A few other housekeeping items came up on the list, but it was small fries in comparison to the enormity of going purposefully into the woods with bells and baubles, provoking an attack. Quinton watched the staff mingle, realizing how important this process was to the overall success of the mission. It was honestly surreal to think, after all the opposition from monolithic entities and governments, that they were flying free in less than a day.

..."and Captain... anything else to add?" Kas was looking at him expectantly.

She was letting him end the meeting, a formality he never needed but now she was very much doing her job the way it needed to be done.

He stood, pointing at the map and display.

"We hit the Talarian border in two days. Real-time communication, and other amenities of home stay at the border. They will be suspicious, and will not come to our aid. This is our proving ground, a chance to show our mettle. I would say I am eager, but that's asking for the trouble we are destined for. So, make merry, tighten or wipe as needed, let's get out there and do the job. Dismissed."
-end-

 

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