An enemy within? (Part 1)
Posted on 17 Jul 2018 @ 2:16am by Captain Akio Tachibana & Commander S’chqenr T’Jedf Tolkath (Jan 2389 - TRNSFR After Gorn War) & Lieutenant Commander Iria Taltos & Lieutenant Harry Stevens
Edited on on 17 Jul 2018 @ 2:17am
Mission:
Ne Me'e Laua Na Paio - Heroes & Villains
Location: Conference Room, Diplomatic Department - Deck 12, USS Hawaii
Timeline: 1300, 16 Jan 2389
Soundtrack
[ON]
Continued from Curiosity & the Cat Part 2
[Conference Room, Diplomatic Department, Deck 12; USS Hawaii]
Akio already knew something wasn't right, yet the revelation was just another blow.
"Then who attacked XFY?" Akio asked the obvious question.
"I think the question is not just Who but what with Captain" Tolkath said evenly. "The Lieutenant is correct, according to her scans, some of the residual energy signatures and some of the resulting damage is inconsistent with known Gorn weaponry"
He paused for a moment and then let the bomb drop. "The data does, however, on initial assessment appear to be consistent with known Klingon weapons technology. There will have to be further analysis, but I believe the data is accurate, with a probability of ninety-four percent.
"This leads to a number of possibilities. One, that the Gorn have developed ships which use both their own and Klingon weaponry. How they acquired such weaponry is unknown at this time, but it supports the findings of materials, possibly of Klingon manufacture, in the Gorn torpedoes.
"The other possibility is that the weapons were mounted on Klingon vessels, which were involved in the attack. Since, to my knowledge, none were reported, one would assume that any such vessels were cloaked..."
The Vulcan announced that there was now evidence that Federation had been secretly attacked by one of its own members in his normal tone, no trace of an emotional reaction to the possibility that this could plunge the Alpha Quadrant into a bloody war with both the Gorn Hegemony and the Klingon Empire.
This revelation truly irked Akio. His jaw tightened as he continued looking at Tolkath in thought. Cortez in the brig was truly hampering their efforts. Except as Akio followed that thought, it wouldn't matter: the Starfleet line was that the Gorn attacked XFY.
"That is quite startling, Commander and quite an accusation. I am no science expert, yet how certain are you that Klingon weaponry was used?" Akio finally said.
"I don't mind going back out to run more scans or to help if someone else wants to do it but we need to be certain station security won't be interrupting this time." Iria said quietly. She wouldn't mind finding out more she hated leaving things undone.
"As I said Captain, a probability of ninety-four percent." Tolkath replied. "I will need to confirm, I can use the ship's sensors for that. It would take approximately eighteen minutes for the appropriate scan."
Akio paused. He was getting too worked up with the news that he had forgot what Tolkath had said earlier. "Right, I apologize, you did just say that. This is all just very startling. I would like a confirmation, Commander. We are about to accuse the Klingons of committing war upon the Federation. Please let XFY know we are just conducting a sensor test."
Tolkath nodded.
"Is there any indication XFY or Devonshire know about this?" Akio asked in the most serious tone since they docked.
"I do not know Captain," Tolkath replied.
Harry looked back at the data and said, "This does not look good Sir, Permission to take over the security detachment on XFY?" as Sif lay at his feet still recovering from what the nasty Gorn Doctor had done to her.
"I cannot authorize that, Ensign," Akio cautioned. As much as he suspected the detention of Taltos was somehow connected to her findings, there was no justification yet. "I am authorizing you to investigate any connection or knowledge of the Security Department of XFY concerning these findings. Be discreet though."
Iria gave a shrug of her shoulders, "If they knew why not tell us or perhaps some know while others don't. Only way would be to ask and see how they react but I personally wouldn't be in a rush to say until we have more proof, scans or something." Iria added once the others were quiet.
"Agreed," Akio said, surprised by the junior officer's astuteness and judgment. She was very brave to have withheld this information from XFY. "We shall wait for the scans and then we will meet with Xavier's and Devonshire's command and intelligence teams," Akio then turned to Iria, "Thank you for standing up to protect this information, Lieutenant. We do not know what this yet means, yet I fear you may have stumbled across a puzzle piece we may not have wanted."
Iria gave a very cheeky grin, "No problem Sir I was just being stubborn and bit of brat because I didn't like how they acted besides," she shrugged, "I sent it all to Commander Tolkath just in case they took it by force but they didn't do that." She shrugged softly and tried to act as if she wasn't pleased, let alone actually feeling honored he had actually spoken directly to her about her actions. She hadn't done it because she knew for certain but mostly she was curious and stubborn.
"I will carry out the scans immediately on returning to the Bridge" Tolkath confirmed.
OFF:
Akio Tachibana, CAPT, SF
CO
Tolkath, CDR, SF
2XO/CSO
Iria Taltos, LTJG, SF
ACHENG
Harry Stevens, ENS, SF
TACSEC
