Security Concerns

Posted on Sun Oct 18th, 2020 @ 7:52pm by Major Naomi Sylan Griffiths & Lieutenant Shri'Rao Sh'veqan

Frank read the classified reports from the Graviton report. Several shops had crashed entering or exiting the Catapult. Starfleet Intelligence was currently investigating whether there was sabotage involved either with the catapult or the on the ships before they were sent through. Every ship had docked at Iota before entering the catapult, and though the catapult was shut down, it didn't mean that an operative was still working against Starfleet Interests in the area. Due to the High Classification and the concerns he decided to make his XO and his Security Officer aware. He sent them both a copy of the briefing which contained no information but the possibility of a saboteur. In preparation for their arrival, Frank brewed a small pot of coffee.

Shri'Rao didn't take much shore leave, she really didn't need it. instead, she spent as much time as possible resting and recovering her strength and then in the gym trying to train her lungs aerobically to have more endurance. It was the recommended medical practice especially after so much smoke inhalation. after the physical exertion she went to her desk and logged in, She saw the security file that Captain Kamar sent her. Read it digested it then read it again. A shame she didn't have the same security contacts she had in the Alpha quadrant, that made it a lot harder to remind the Captain how good she actually was. still, she was wide awake and alert when she went to see the captain at the appointed time. She wondered what the captain had in mind. Without the right parts, the Penn would be slow and unwieldy especially in a combat situation. On the side, however, Shri'Rao had been attempting to set up supply contacts with some of the locals. If they could get the right materials and basic elements they could fabricate their own parts. They did have some pretty clever techs on board.

She found herself in front of the captain's office pressing the chime.

In her office/quarters Naomi was looking over the slim report the Captain has sent her with a note to attend so audibly grumbling she stood to put on her tunic doing it up as she left her quarters, she made for the nearest turbo lift and entered "Captain's Office" she said when the doors had closed. It did not take long the moment the doors whooshed open she was out of the lift and heading towards the Captain's location, she rounded the corner and saw the Andorian Security Chief pressing the buzzer, she quickly approached and stood next to her.

"Hello Lieutenant, I see you have been summoned too huh?" Griffiths asked.

"I usually do when Captain Kamar wants to set policy or has something important to say, Major. Shri'Rao replied.

Naomi simply shrugs "everyone does Lieutenant, everyone comes when the Captain calls," she said as the doors opened allowing them entry.

"Enter," Captain Kamar said when the women arrived at his door, "I've brewed a fresh pot of coffee. Don't even ask what I had to trade to get a bag of the real thing. It's possibly the only real coffee in the quadrant and that, my friends, is a depressing thought."

"Don't worry Captain, I managed to save enough of the Arboretum that we were able to replant and are growing some now," Shri'Rao said.

"That will be nice, thanks for handling that Lieutenant," Frank said after taking a sip of his coffee. "I want to cut straight to the chase, we have too much work on our hands to tarry too long. I received the intelligence briefing this morning that I sent to you. Starfleet is investigating the possibility of Sabotage as one if the reasons for the accidents with ships and the Graviton Catapult. Nothing said there was a threat to our ship, but I wanted to hear your opinions. As a Marine First Officer and the Head of Security, I am hoping for some insight from the two of you before making any decisions."

She takes a cup and pours some coffee and smells the aroma "hmm... Now that is coffee" Griffiths said "as for what you just said Captain" Naomi started after taking a sip and sighing in relief "as a marine I am always suspicious and while it is true Starfleet has a lot of enemies in this quadrant I cannot but help think that the station assigned to the catapult had a major lapse in security, the Lieutenant here would know more on the possibilities, from a tactical standpoint the device failing as it did, has put any ships in the quadrant in danger and the fact that it happened so soon and before we could build up our supplies weakens our position. As tough as a Nebula class is a ship was never designed for the type of combat we have encountered so far" Griffiths said and fell silent.

"I have to agree with the Major, Captain. I've been doing a lot of investigating myself, not only into the Kazon-Ogla's ability to damage our optical networks so bad but at the lax security at the catapult itself. Sabotage is certainly one possibility. Another possibility is the first-strike situation from a power we don't know about either wants to keep our units small here, at least small enough so that that we are dependent and desperate enough to make deals with the local powers but weak enough not to be able to defend ourselves adequately. Think about it. Our supply chain has been cut off, not only supplies but personnel as well. On a hunch, I shuttled over to the catapult and took Petty officer Tomlinson with me. We found that the computer core had been sabotaged in almost the same way ours was. Not only were all records of previous catapults destroyed but so was the main operating system. Tomlinson examined what was left of the computer core and ran several scans."

"He is positive that the core was damaged by a small scale energy weapon with the exact signature of the one that hit us. The security was pretty lax there. We found records were not kept of the coming and goings of personnel and all surveillance was erased. I must point out that the head of security for the catapult has been fired for incompetence and dereliction of duty. Commodore Hansen was right to do it too. He doesn't have much support staff at the moment. Most of the personnel he has been fresh out of the academy. He has an industrial soil reclaimator and four operational fabrication plants. He is trying to get two more operational. When the Catapult was operational the shipyard was due to be completed in less that 6 months, but without the regular supply shipments it could take up to two years to complete. The fact of the matter is we lack the raw materials to keep pace with our (Federation) objectives. As the most powerful Federation starship in this quadrant, I find it a little too convenient that the Kazon crippled us so completely. I think that may have been in cahoots with someone else that doesn't want us here." Shri'Rao stated.

Frank absent mindedly played with a cigar as he listened to the security report. None of this information had been shared by the Commodore or any of the other officers he has interacted with. It definitely gave him something to consider. "So if I understand correctly you think there may be a plot to weaken Starfleet's presence here. To take it a bit further if there is one, then how do protect our ship? Most of the engineers and senior officers on Iota know we are not at full strength. If there is a mole then we must assume they know too."

"That is my theory Captain, and that theory happens to fit the facts so far. There are still a lot of unanswered questions though as to how do we protect or ship? Now that we know about the photonic algorythims and how they work I believe that ops will devise a way to use that system to augment our shields as well as prevent another episode as we experienced. Provided we can get the shields up again, once our repairs are completed. As for the mole, I don't know who that is, but I do know that the station catapult control system computers were shot with a hand held version of what got us, that implies a mole or saboteur, Sir." Shri'Rao said.

"I too have to agree with the Lieutenant's assessment, speaking from a military standpoint the current state of the Catapult puts us at a disadvantage and while last I heard there will soon be another ship in this Quadrant, that will be some time as last I heard they had another means of travel to get here until then we are the only Federation ship in unfriendly territory and even the Voyager did not pass through unscathed and they had the latest Starfleet tech of that time, the Intrepid was built around Neural gel packs, if we have any on this ship they have been added on at the refit. I know you like the Nebula Class Captain, but a Sovereign class would have coped better, but saying that this ship did well despite it's upgrades" Griffith's said.

"Thank you both, you have given me some to things to think about. As you both know we had a saboteur on board here before, it ended with my poisoning. I'd like you both to keep this conversation between us. Lieutenant, keep you security teams sharp, I don't want to believe we have another traitor on board, but I'm not sure we can rule it out either. Keep an ear out for any strange happenings or reports among the crew. These should only be discussed between the three of us. " Frank turned to the Major. "Major, I think after we leave port for our cruise tomorrow, we will not return to Iota, please make any preparations as necessary, and keep this under wraps."

"Understood clearly Captain", Shri'Rao said. "Considering all the trouble we've had I think it would be best to initiate security condition 3 throughout the ship. I would also recommend that the transporters and shuttle bays be shut down until needed and only used with express command permission. I will also post security to key systems and areas of the ship." Shri'Rao added.

Frank nodded, "Ok let's make it happen, if there is nothin else, I believe we need to prepare to get underway in the morning."

[OFF]

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A Post by:

Captain Frank Kamar
Commanding Officer

Major Naomi Griffiths
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Shri'Rao Sh'veqan
Chief Security Officer