Knowledge Is Power

Posted on Wed Jun 28th, 2023 @ 10:10pm by Commander Mark Bawden

728 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Ethics, Morals & The Prime Directive.
Location: Security Operations
Timeline: En Route

Mark found himself nursing a lukewarm cup of Coffee as he sifted through the latest reports from the colony, including any scientific reports and developments. Most of which made zero sense to him and part of him wished Ayla was still in uniform because then she'd have clearance to read all this and explain it to him. From what limited information he could glean from the reports and what he had the computer explain to him it was focused on atmospheric terraforming and sub-crust layer revitalization.

He was never one for the sciences which is why he started off as a Marine but he developed an appreciation for the field having married a scientist. The reports showed considerable progress but anything more technical then that was lost on him but one thing that he didn't miss was the subtle shift in report tone. There were usually reasons for the shift and these mostly fell to external factors. He knew this because after the death of his Daughter even his own reports took a turn which caused him to rewrite them or have others do it for him, having experienced it it's far easier to notice in others.

The change though was slow, over time, a lot of time from what he could see but it was there. More emphasis on results and less on the colony, gradually it became all about results and progress, new programs and experiments. The colony itself was completely left out. To other scientists, this was a gold mine of information but to an outsider, the details were easy to ignore if not understood but what was missing leaped out.

The missing freighter was interesting though, information was limited on the matter, reports were few about it even in the general updates, almost like only limited effort was made, left out or the matter brushed over. A missing ship in a remote area of space was nothing new, pirates and raiders operating where there was little security was common but something didn't sit right as Mark read the limited information about it. The owner of the vessel and its parent contractor checked out, a mostly clean record, few infractions and citations but nothing that would stand out as a problem amongst civilian vessel Captains.

Background checks on the crew were checked out also as most of them were company staff, engineers, scientists, a handful of civilians. The limited information the long-range probes yielded didn't show much beyond a marked increase in activity. So something was clearly going on, just not firm answers as to what.

Then coupled with the Captain's request for a complete security assessment of ship and crew. Reports on critical areas and appropriate security arrangements and procedures too. He was thankful for having such a large team because this would have taken a long time to do just by himself and those he delegated work to, he vetted himself. So far, aside from some very minor issues especially relating to cargo brought on board of a trivial nature the ship was otherwise secure and the crew cleared. Mark had verified the findings with Starfleet Security and Starfleet Intelligence just to be sure.

The Captain wanted a secure ship, Mark wanted to report it so.

All this investigating of ship and crew made Mark wonder about the Captain's motives, it was common for a new Captain to want some in depth report on the goings on, the ship, key players of the crew, even recent activity reports going back a few months. Mark had even checked out the Captain, a full report was asked for so the Captain was included too. Such a check shed some light on the new Captain and Mark wasn't all sure about what he'd read upon. It never sat well with anyone reading someone losing a ship while they were in command, First Officer or not and the report regarding the incident was sealed at his level so while in the one hand Mark didn't want to assume, it was equally hard not to pre-judge given his family was also on board.

"Computer, send message to Captain De Havilland, eyes only. Message reads, security report complete, ready to debrief at the earliest opportunity."

With a sigh he listened to the computer chirp its compliance. All he had to do now was wait for word and a summons.

RSS Feed