Terrifying Prospects

Posted on Sat Feb 12th, 2011 @ 1:28am by Captain Vorn Krace & Commander Jordan Gunning

Mission: Shadows Fall
Location: USS Iapetus - Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MM2 MD28 0403hrs

This was always ominous. He had never liked being summoned to his Commanding Officer's ready room, regardless of the news he was to be given. Sometimes it was positive but there was an intonation in the Captain's voice that this was going to be a less than enjoyable experience for him. He reached the turbolift and was almost trampled by a security team who were wandering the corridors of the ship.

Krace walked through the crimson sliding doors of the turbolift and into the oval control centre, walking with determined purpose towards the door at the rear of the bridge, where his security officer was waiting for him. Stepping through the sliding doors, he moved round behind his desk and took a seat, waiting for the doors to close before speaking to protect their privacy.

"I've just had a very disturbing conversation with Commander Archer," he began, allowing the comment to sink in slightly before continuing. "She and Lieutenant Crichton believe that there may have been a possibility that the Marconi was infiltrated prior to her destruction, and that the explosion may either be a result of that potential infiltration, or as a way to cover it up.

"Our shields were down when the Marconi was destroyed, and that means we may have an infiltrator too, if that was the case." He fell silent, allowing his security officer to speak in response to the suspicions.

"Hm." Was essentially all that Jordan could muster. "Did they give you any statistical likelihoods on that, sir? The way I see it, yeah. It would have been easy to get on board the Marconi. They weren't expecting anything. They probably had some of the processing power of their internal sensors applied to externals. Surely we'd have noticed someone coming aboard the ship?"

"No statistics," Vorn responded, thinking back to his conversation with the intelligence officers earlier. "But I doubt that they would bring up the possibility to me if they did not believe that there was a significant chance of it having occurred. Regardless, we need to treat it as a very real threat to this ship. The Marconi was carrying a wealth of classified data of the specifics of the events and current situation around the area of Regulus, and our databanks are now crammed full of data about Task Force 38's operations in the Delta Quadrant. Those are two very data-wealthy prizes for an infiltrator to go after."

"Agreed." Jordan mused before speaking a hushed tone. No-one liked to hear the words he was going to say, especially not Commanding Officers. The amount of paperwork it generated was unprecedented. "Should we go into lockdown, sir?"

"I want to be discreet," Vorn said, answering the question by way of elaboration. "If we do have an infiltrator onboard, I don't want them to know that we're on to them. I also don't want to cause mass panic amongst the crew." He paused, considering the measures he should tell his Chief of Security to take. "I want all database access restrictions to be tightened, and all access logs to be reviewed as-they-happen by the security personnel. All outgoing communications will have the start and end source verified before the connection will be made."

"Sounds sensible." Jordan said, taking a note of the Captain's orders on his PADD. "Anything else? I reckon we should reverse the ship's built-in pattern enhancers. If we can turn them into dampeners then whoever is aboard won't be able to transport off the ship. In addition, set up forcefields over the outer doors of the shuttlebays. Once in, they can't get back out."

Krace nodded. "Do it. Whatever you do though, I want to refrain from causing mass panic amongst the crew - but most importantly, I don't want any infiltrator to know that we may be on to them. Allow them to come to us if they are onboard, and then we'll catch them red-handed."

"No-one will notice a difference, Captain." The Commander said, rising to his feet. "You can count on me for that."

Vorn nodded. "Very good. Dismissed."

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

&

Lt. Commander Jordan Gunning
Chief Security and Tactical Officer
USS Iapetus