What's the next Target?
Posted on Fri Feb 26th, 2021 @ 2:26pm by Colonel Sehan t'Varis & Subcommander Kaiae t'Lien
1,383 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Chapter III: The Hunt is On
Location: Commander's Ready Room, I.R.W. Ourainavassa
Timeline: 238701.16
Raven was in her new ready room, reading through the initial reports by the engineering department. It appeared that the pirates had left the ship in a surprisingly good condition, with only minor work needed to get her to full readiness. An especially pleasant surprise was how well the replicators were working, she mused, as she took a sip from her coffee. Although she had hired a new chef earlier, having proper replicator facilities would make feeding the crew far easier. Nevertheless, supplies were high on the list of things Gedak had sent teams onto the station to acquire.
She put the report down, before stretching her shoulders and neck. Another nice new thing was this office, she mused. Not only was her ready room now directly connected to the bridge, it was also bigger than even the quarters she had had on the Claw - and it came with a sitting corner, complete with a small table, a bar cabinet, and a surprisingly comfortable sofa, which she had been lounging on while reading the reports. Eavy was lying across her legs, snoozing peacefully. The hydroponics bay on the main deck had proven to be the little creature's favourite spot on the ship - and after over an hour of running around and exploring, she was understandably tired.
Stifling a yawn, Raven tapped her rank badge, activating the built-in communicator. Although the Romulan version came nowhere close to the quality of a Starfleet combadge, they worked just fine with the internal communications systems.
"Raven to Subcommander Kaiae, could you stop by my ready room when you have a moment?"
Kaiae glanced at her uniform tunic as she smoothed it out of reflex, checking to make sure no dust was still marring it--she'd been going through the ship, starting with the bridge and then her own quarters before moving onto the rest; searching as best she could for - and removing - the listening devices that, while seemingly inactive, the pirates seem to have missed that the Tal Shiar would have planted aboard ship...half of them probably in the cause of trying to spy on the other half of them and vice versa.
"You wanted to see me ma'am?" Kaiae noted Eavy draped across Raven's legs, and considered that perhaps "dust" should not be so much of a concern as "fur"...
Raven gently pushed Eavy off her legs and stood, walking over to the desk. "Indeed, Subcommander. Please, take a seat. Help yourself to a refreshment from the replicator if you want." She held up her half-empty cup of coffee. "They actually produce decent stuff." Sitting down at her desk, she brought up a holographic display of the ship, annotated with crew assignments. "And then, tell me. How are you finding our new vessel?"
"Full of bugs; both of official and unauthorized." Kaiae said dryly, getting herself a cup of tea. "But that's about what I expected considering its origin."
"Well, that is indeed not a surprise. A sweep for those was next on the engineering department's to-do list, once they made sure that the ship wouldn't suddenly blow up on us." Raven shrugged. "As you say, not very surprising, considering this is a Tal Shiar vessel that was taken by a band of pirates. What about the rest of it, though? Are you finding your quarters to your liking? The recreational facilities, armament, and such?"
"It is a Mogai-class warbird." Kaiae was put a bit off balance by queries; wondering if there was some ulterior motive to discern. "Among the best vessels our fleet has to offer. Though, the choices the pirates made with some of the....recreational...areas will need...adjusting. Though I believe they pleased Gedak."
Raven sighed. "Always the professional. I really should not have expected any different, we have known each other long enough." She swiped the holographic projection of the ship away, replacing it with a map of the surrounding systems.
"To business, then. As it stands, we have about two hundred days until the projected date of the supernova. We have until then to locate this individual they call the Vulture, liberate the abducted refugees, and make sure they get to a suitable new home. Finding this new home is not our problem to worry about. Finding the Vulture, however, is. I have tasked Gedak with gathering information from his contacts on pirate raids that may be connected to our target."
She swiped around on the hologram, and a variety of markers appeared across the map. "These are all reports of pirate activity in this sector, in the past one hundred days. Computer, filter for the following set of criteria: attacks on Romulan vessels or vessels carrying Romulan cargo or passengers, attacks by vessels of Klingon design, attacks on convoys of multiple vessels, and attacks by multiple vessels."
The computer chimed confirmation, and a moment later, almost all the markers had disappeared, with the remaining few markers having changed shape to indicate which of the criteria were met.
Raven looked at the map, and shook her head. "Right, thirty attacks in one hundred days that match any one of the given criteria. Six that match two, and one that matches all four. Which would be the one on our flotilla." She looked at Kaiae. "Ideas, Subcommander?"
"Ideally, to compare the six next most likely candidates each against the attack on the flotilla for any smaller details or characteristics that may align them, then seek further intelligence on the most promising matches."
"We are thinking along the same lines, then," Raven replied with a smile. "I will have Gedak try and acquire more detailed reports."
"Unfortunately, no doubt information will be sold on us, with our presence here; as well. Perhaps by the very same...brokers...no less." It was the sort of world-weary careful observation one might make after having spent time as a comms officer aboard warbirds, carefully navigating the currents of intrigue and conflict between commanders, senators, admirals, Tal Shiar agents, and other parties that could often array themselves around such a post and its holder, on light of all of said parties needing access to send and receive information.
"That is the nature of the game, Subcommander," Raven replied. "In this modern world, there is one thing that is more valuable than latinum, and that, of course, is information. I have had my dealings with information brokers. Quite a few of them even operate on a trade principle - they will only give you info, if you give them some in return." She smirked. "Gedak's father, and his grandfather, were both info brokers. Thanks to that, and the way Ferengi deal with inheritable debt, there are a fair few people out there who owe him a favour or two. There is information out there about us, yes. But we can, at least to an extent, control that information." Her smirk turned into a mischievous grin. "And we can use it to lure Vulture into a trap, when the time comes."
"Are there any indications that this...creature...is keeping those they took; or selling them on the Orion market or such?" The latter would make it far harder to recover any survivors; but it also might make it easier to trace the Vulture.
The colonel shook her head. "No Romulans have turned up on the established markets. If they are being sold, it would be through more clandestine channels. Or, of course, the Vulture could be operating on contract, delivering them straight to a buyer. It is rather disconcerting how little information is known about our foe, even among the info brokers."
Kaiae grimaced slightly. "Any change of having anyone who can poke around those....clandestine channels?"
Raven smirked. "Don't worry. Gedak's already on it. Once we get usable intel, we'll make a plan to act on it."
Kaiae gave a sharp nod, almost visibly restraining herself from the ingrained habit to salute. "May he find in Ferengi fashion, then as they say, that indeed every man does have his price."
The commander smirked. "I believe that is one of their 'Rules of Acquisition', if you can't buy it, you are just not bartering hard enough. I will keep you informed of anything he finds out."
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