Reading a Blind Spot

Posted on Sat Feb 5th, 2011 @ 11:41pm by Captain Vorn Krace & Lieutenant Commander Sara Archer & Lieutenant JG John Crichton

Mission: Shadows Fall
Location: USS Iapetus - Intel Offices
Timeline: MM2 MD28 - 0349hrs

The Iapetus was cruising at warp, the Romulan vessel they had found at the Marconi's site of destruction just at the edge of her advanced sensor range - almost just a blip, so as to not alert the craft to their stalking. So far, Vorn had almost no information on this vessel, and had checked with Starfleet to confirm that no Romulan ships had any business in the region of Regulus. After a short power nap, he was now stepping up to the doors of the intel offices, and pressing the chime for entry.

"Enter" John called as he looked at a console monitor. Roeings and himself had been going at it for sometime. Although some of the answers had been found, there was still a few things John couldn't understand. As he heard the doors open, he swung round on the chair. He wasn't expecting the Captain to appear. "Sir? Is there something I can do for you?" John said it loud enough so Roeings could hear him, who was currently sat across the room. John's mouth went dry as he wondered where Archer was. Although he had spoken with Commanding Officers in the past, it was normally on his own terms.

"I need to see you and Commander Archer," Vorn said, looking towards the man he knew vaguely as their fairly fresh assistant intel chief. He's made a point to know to recognize the man, as he was assisting in the running of arguably the most important department on the ship, but had never had time to actually meet him himself since the man had come on board.

"Well Commander Archer isn't here at the moment sir." John nodded over to Roeing who took the hint and made his way towards the door. "Perhaps I could assist you until she returns?" He asked the Captain, but there was no need.

The doors slid open again, this time without a chime. Archer entered the room with several PADDS, one of which was held up in front of her face. She was clearly deeply involved with the report, and didn't even look away to see who was in the room. Still, without missing a beat, she addressed their visitor. "Hello, Captain." She walked over to one of the stations and sat down her devices, still scanning the one with her eyes. "Did you need to see me?"

Vorn was used to the way the intelligence types acted by now. Afterall, he had been working with Acle for years now, and even after transferring twice out of the field, he still carried around with him the same persona. Vorn could almost swear that it was specifically taught to all intel recruits. "Yes," he responded, moving towards her more. "The ship we ran into in the Regulus system, we have very little information on it in our computer banks. I need the two of you to dig around, and find out as much about it as you can; specifications, hull markings, and most importantly, any indication of what the damn thing was doing in that system."

"Of course, sir. I assumed as much." Sara took the third PADD in her stack, typed in a few commands, and handed the PADD to her commanding officer. "I'm afraid I don't have much at the moment. Judging from the small size of the vessel, and similar designs, I would say that this ship is a scout. Our sensors were able to give us a shape, but we were not able to penetrate the hull." She gestured to the PADD Krace was holding. "Here we have recreated what we believe the ship to look like when it is not cloaked. It is a new design that I have never seen, and I can't find anything like it in the database. Still, if you were to trace back a design lineage, I'm confident that my original assessment that this ship is Romulan is correct. Without seeing the ship in action, it may be difficult to assess her combat abilities, but it is doubtful that she is more capable than the Iapetus."

"No doubt." John agreed. "My self and Roeings have been working on how they managed to elude the Marconi long enough to destroy it." John told them as he joined them over by the console. "Our only theories so far are that it was beamed aboard just prior to the detonation or they found a way to stop the computer informing the crew of an unauthorised transport, which I think is more likely." He added. "Unless the Commander as any other theories." He looked towards Sara, hoping she had.

Sara shrugged. "The Romulan ship was most likely undetected by the Marconi, or else she would not have been so close to the explosion. It is probable that the explosive device was beamed aboard just prior to detonation, possibly during the time in which the Marconi's shields were down for Captain Kaldor's transport. I am curious why they didn't take the opportunity to do something similar to the Iapetus. One possibility is that they didn't have another device. My other theory, and one that I am more worried about, is that the not only disable the unauthorized transport alarms, but had infiltrated the ship prior to its destruction. The explosive may have only been to cover the tracks of their operation. The Marconi was involved in classified research. It is possible that that information is now in Romulan hands."

"That's a very unsettling possibility, Commander," Vorn replied, quietly thinking - as he knew the other two must be as well - that if the Romulans had infiltrated the Marconi, then the Iapetus may have been infiltrated as well. "Keep digging, I need you to find me as much intel on that ship as you can, even if it means breaking through diplomatic boundaries." He knew that Starfleet's official line was that they weren't allowed to hack into databases of other governments, but if his team could manage even a peek into any database that would contain information on this ship... well, he wouldn't tell if they don't. "I want the two of you to do a briefing for the senior staff as soon as you have anything substantial."

Turning and walking back towards the entrance he had passed through earlier, he tapped the gold chevron on his chest. "Krace to Gunning. Meet me in my ready room, Commander."

----------------
Captain Vorn Krace
Commanding Officer

Lt. Commander Sara Archer
Chief Intelligence Officer

&

Lieutenant JG John Crichton
Asst. Chief Intelligence Officer