Meditation - Answers in search of questions

Posted on 01 May 2018 @ 12:20am by Commander S’chqenr T’Jedf Tolkath (Jan 2389 - TRNSFR After Gorn War)

Mission: Ne Me'e Laua Na Paio - Heroes & Villains
Location: CSOs Quarters
Timeline: 3 hours after combat

[ON]

[Chief Science Officer’s Quarters]

Once he had finished his Bridge shift Tolkath went down to his office and checked on damage and casualties to the science division. They had escaped relatively unscathed, a couple of the laboratories had been shaken up and a few of the personnel had some bumps and bruises but no serious injuries.

Satisfied they would be back to normal operations by the end of the next shift he called in members of the Science team with experience in shielding systems; force field generation, electro-magnetic energy and torpedo weapons systems. He presented the sensor data on the enemy torpedoes gathered during the attack and set the team to work to trying to recreate the process used to breach the Hawaii’s shields.

He also dispatched a team to inspect each of the impact zones, to see if they could find and retrieve any debris from the torpedoes not destroyed in the explosions. Having actual pieces of the weapon for more detailed physical analysis could prove invaluable.

That done he finally went off shift. Back in his quarters he changed into a Vulcan robe, ate a simple meal and then settled himself on the floor to meditate over the day’s events.

He crossed his legs, placed his fingertips together, closed his eyes, settled his breathing into a steady rhythm and then let his brain work through the data, separating his consciousness from his physical body.

Firstly, the Hawaii had been travelling along the edge of a highly radioactive cloud, that should have masked their presence from other ships.
Yet the Wyoming had not only found them, but come precisely to their position.

The Wyoming’s had used Gorn energy signatures to mask their own identity.
He had heard of such a camouflage being used before, but not with Gorn systems or with such precision that it had fooled the sensors on a Sovereign class ship.

The arrival of Captain Carson and his officers.
Why did they use a shuttle, instead of the transporter.
The radiation clouds were dense, but not enough to have interfered with a short distance transport.

Carson’s provision of Gorn ship scans that were of more advanced designs than those he had been given was puzzling as well.
He made a mental note to retrieve the data from the conference room terminal.

Then had come Carson’s demand to take over the Hawaii
It was a logical action, Carson being the senior officer.
But his reasoning had changed many times in a few moments.

The interaction had begun with Carson’s seniority, a simple exchange of vessels, Tachibana being given the Wyoming.
But then it had rapidly become antagonistic and accusatory.
Carson had quickly changed from wanting Tachibana as his second on the Wyoming to alleging Tachibana was incompetent and, or, a Gorn agent, along with the accusations against Sthilg.

While Tolkath himself believed the Gorn Doctor had been deliberately vague and unforthcoming when asked for information about his own species. That alone did not make him a Gorn spy, although Sthilg’s apparent unexplained departure from the ship before the battle would seem to indicate some measure of duplicity.

There were then the actions of the ship’s own Intelligence officer, Lieutenant Cortez, she had moved to support Carson very quickly, unusually so.

Followed by their Chief Engineer Kosu sabotaging their own systems.
That was an emotional response he concluded, intended to show support for Tachibana, but it could have endangered the ship, thankfully it had not

At which point emotions had taken control of both command teams, resulting in threats and drawn weapons. A practically unheard of event in Starfleet.
If not for the Red Alert, violence would have surely followed he concluded.
Certainly there would be a Board of Enquiry into the incident, possibly still a Courts Martial.
Though with Carson and his team now dead, that was less likely

He himself had suggested Tachibana detain Carson in the turbolift,
The action, of essentially arresting a senior Captain, would have been serious, very serious, but legitimate, as there was clear evidence of Carson’s breach of regulations.
But, Tachibana had decided not to detain Carson.
The Helmsman Cassidy had also interjected advice against it.
As a result, Carson and his ship had perished.

Now he came to the arrival of the vessel that had attacked them.
Reportedly Federation but still it had attacked, using advanced and unknown weapons. The vessel was Gorn, he was now sure of that.

He stopped there, it was his own second who had reported the vessel as being Federation.

Aldana had also neglected to report that it had raised shields and charged weapons until later in his report.

The individual’s specialty was fauna and medicine, was their failure to report vital information inexperience or a deliberate attempt to mislead.

He also recalled that Aldana had abandoned the science station to tend to injured Bridge crew.

While a worthy action, it had been done without asking permission until already away from the panel and it had left the ship without sensor data during the attack, when Tolkath’s auxiliary panel had shut down.
Again was that inexperience or a deliberate act.

Lieutenant Kosu had been able to start analyzing the enemy weapons but the Engineer had to use her own engineering systems, because Aldan had moved away from the more capable science station.

The Engineer had also mentioned some kind of project to Tachibana. Hammerhead?
That sounded like a weapons system.
Researching new weapons on a ship of the line was unusual too.

Backing up a little he remembered Tachibana had ordered Winchester to fire a spread of warning torpedoes after the Wyoming moved to interdict the enemy ship.

Yet Tachibana had not attempted to hail the vessel, although Zamora reported they had tried, before the command team had arrived back from the conference room.

Next, shortly after the Wyoming was engaged and the HawaiiWyoming to her fate.

Even if Carson’s attack had been reckless, Tolkath was still concerned that Tachibana had not supported him, despite events in the conference room.

He considered possible reasons for the Captain’s decision;
Tachibana had been caught off balance by the Wyoming’s assault maneuvers and the devastating return fire; he was trying to avoid combat to maintain the mission profile of intelligence gathering; he was still reeling from Carson’s accusations…

Tolkath revisited those, Carson had claimed there were agents within Starfleet who had provided information to the Gorn and were now seeking to escape to Gorn controlled space.
He stated that the recent commission of the Hawaii’s crew was being used as a cover.

But if the Gorn had indeed successfully infiltrated Starfleet, why would they give up that source and expose those agents by recalling them?

If there were such agents, then they must had been placed in positions giving them access to relevant information to be of use to the Gorn.

That could be Starfleet Intelligence itself and Captain Ramsey’s Gorn Theatre command staff.

He returned to the matter of the Gorn ship designs, if Carson’s ones were correct, that would mean that somebody was still giving out misinformation, since he himself had received different specifications only a few days ago.

Which meant there could indeed be Gorn agents still active and interfering in the flow of information, either at command level or possibly aboard this vessel.
So if Carson’s accusations were valid, who on the Hawaii was involved?

Tachibana had certainly wanted Carson off the ship…
Cortez had quickly moved to Carson’s side and Tolkath had caught several looks between her and Cassidy, but the Helmsman had also pushed for Carson to be allowed to leave.
Did Tachibana and Cassidy know the Steamrunner was no match for the enemy vessel and were letting Carson go to his death?

But then Tachibana had looked genuinely shocked when the Wyoming was destroyed, Tolkath had seen it in the man’s eyes.
And Cassidy seemed young and impetuous, caught up with loyalty to his ship and Captain.
That left Silthig and possibly Aldana under suspicion…

Security were tasked with investigating the Gorn’s disappearance and interrogating Cortez, it was to be hoped they would succeed in gaining new insights into what had happened.
He thought of whether he should suggest they interview Aldana as well.
He was unsure at this juncture, leaning more towards inexperience than duplicity.

But what if Carson was incorrect, where had he got the idea of Gorn agents from?
Who had they sent the newer Gorn designs to, with Carson and his crew dead that would perhaps never be known.

Tolkath considered one other possibility, could Carson have been a Gorn agent?
Were his actions an attempt to take control of the Hawaii an enemy ruse?

Carson’s crew had seemed convinced of the man’s position, they had supported him to the point of an armed standoff.
Were they misled or involved themselves?
Again, with them now dead, that may be impossible to find out.

He realized he his review had raised a great many questions, which even with the application of cold clear logic and hard facts, could not yet be answered.

He changed tact and began to work on a plan of action.
He was now unsure who was trustworthy on the ship, a position, he realized, he had never found himself in before.
It was….unsettling.

He spent a few moments establishing a deeper sense of calm.

He again applied logic to the task, if the status of personnel on the ship was unclear, then he would need to look elsewhere.

Tolkath had spent several years in Starfleet Intelligence Science Operations after the Dominion war.
There were some contacts there he could approach, one in particular whom he knew to be reliable and the Gorn ship designs, provided by Carson, would be his way in.

That would have to wait until their next port.
In the meantime perhaps there were things that could be done aboard the Hawaii
He considered a number of options, discarded some and settled on two that could be achieved.
He resolved to carry those out…

He completed his medication with several minutes of gentle controlled breathing, bringing body and mind together.

He relaxed and stood up, clam and logical, with a sense of purpose.

There were already answers, what he needed to find were the right questions...

[OFF]