The Stikes Problem

Posted on Sun Mar 25th, 2012 @ 11:39am by Commander Jordan Gunning & Lieutenant Commander Zim Drex

Mission: Heart of an Explorer
Location: Engineering Lab 3 [Deck 11]
Timeline: MD21 1040hrs

[ON]

As the doors wheezed apart in front of the two officers, Gunning step slowed as he entered the engineering lab. He had never had occasion to be in one before and he was impressed at the striking level of clutter on most of the surfaces that lined the outer edge of the room. In the middle sat a large situation table with a number of individual displays and a holographic emitter in the centre.

"So what's your money on, Drex?" Gunning asked as he slowly made his way around the shelves, trying to identify all the components he could. He didn't get very far. "You reckon Stikes is still on the ship or is he hiding out there somewhere?"

Drex looked at the big "pool table" in front of him. His head was all a buzz with hypothetical situations and the mess he got himself into on this one.

"I don't know, sir." He shook his blue head. "I don't know how to find someone who just...disappears into thin air." He tapped his fingers slowly. "And, with all due respect...I'm not sure we should even be trying to find him." He picked up a PADD that had one of the Engineering duty rosters on the front and flipped it back and forth between his fingers as he moved toward one of the swivel chairs and dropped into it.

"We don't know who this guy is. For all we know, he could have decades of intelligence experience and access to technology none of us have ever seen before. He could be in this room right now using some kind of...optic camouflage..." He looked up at the ceiling. "Or he could be lightyears away, eavesdropping on us through a shielded microprobe sensor."

Drex seemed almost at a loss, which was rare. Usually he was a plucky, chipper guy with enough energy to fuel a Type 9 shuttle.

"He could be, Zim." Gunning replied forlornly before taking a seat. He looked across at his colleague and smiled. "Which makes it more of a challenge."

Finally, the Bolian's bizarre mood came to terms. He looked at Gunning, a fellow officer who represented perhaps Stikes' exact opposite. To him, the chief of security seemed like a loyal Starfleet officer: Committed to the principles of the Federation, but probably unwilling to break the rules to protect those interests.

"Sir, have you ever been tempted by bending the rules... just cause you thought it would probably save lives later on?" It was obvious Drex was looking for a kindred spirit in all of this.

Gunning found himself looking into middle distance, remembering the sheer number of reprimands he had on file for exactly that. All those citations that finished with the phrase 'Despite going against orders'. He needed to say something.

"Call me Jordan." He should have said something else really but the weight of the question seemed to be pressing on him. It was something that he was willing to act on but not willing to admit. "I think... sometimes Starfleet protocols aren't in the right ballpark for the kind of job that needs to get done. You hear what I'm saying?"

"I don't know if I could get used to that...Jordan...but I think I do." Drex put the PADD down on the table, and began to reminisce.

"My first tour on a Federation starship, we were on assignment near Betazed. I was a junior engineer on the Fredrickson. They gave us cadets field commissions, cause the war wasn't going so well. And well... of course that was the day the Dominion decided to take that sector." He found himself staring off into space as well.

"Everything happened so fast. One minute I was running a level one diagnostic on the EPS grid, and the next, the whole deck was exploding around us." He paused, but only for a second. "I remember thinking that I had to get to the bridge. That things were going badly and there might not be anyone alive up there, so I left my post and climbed up and up and up... The Captain made me Chief Engineer when I got there...cause most of the Engineering crew were killed during the initial exchange. 118 people..."

He suddenly snapped out of it, now looking across at the Chief of Security. "I used to think... if I could bring those people back somehow, I would do whatever it took... Sir... I mean Jordan... what if this guy really is working for a clandestine group? What if he is doing things without Federation knowledge, but doing them for our benefit? Do we really have the right to interfere with that?"

Jordan hummed and hawed for a moment as he looked at the Bolian. He was having a hard time with this and he could understand why. All through the history of the Federation, there had been people working away in the background trying to advance their interests and there was no reason that would have changed.

"The way I see it, Stikes could be putting the safety of this vessel in danger. It's my job to ensure the security and safety of the USS Iapetus and her crew- I see Stikes as a threat to that, regardless of his potential motives."

Drex snapped his fingers. "Safety! That's it!" He picked up one of the PADDs on the table and tapped a few buttons. "If we time an EPS discharge into space at the exact moment we bring the holo-emitters online, he might think there was an accident. We could use the holo-emitters to project an explosion as well. And when he comes onboard to check it out... boom..." He clasped his hands together. "We trap him in a forcefield." He looked toward Jordan to see if he approved.

Jordan allowed his chair to recline slightly before letting out a loud howl of laughter. "You never do things small, do you Drex?" The tension of the moments before seemed to have dissipated in the cloud of excitement that the Chief Engineer had whipped up. "All right. Do you reckon we can make it stick?"

Drex blinked. "I don't know. Times like this I wish I were an intelligence officer. I would know what sorts of things Stikes is capable of. Though if he really is genuinely fooled by the explosion, it's reasonable to assume he won't stop to wonder if there's a hook before swallowing the bait. It's a long shot. I think Commander Archer is the only one who knows if it's going to work on someone like him or not..."

"If I know Sara, she won't believe there's any way to catch him." Gunning replied with a wry grin.

[OFF]

Commander Jordan Gunning
Chief Security / Tactical Officer

Lieutenant Commander Zim Drex
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Iapetus