Intel and Security
Posted on Fri Apr 2nd, 2021 @ 9:33am by Commander Vox Templar & Warrant Officer Michael Joustra
Mission:
Side Stories
Location: Deck 14: Security Chief's Office
Commander Vox stepped into the small but efficient security hub and clasped his hands behind his back in between the PADD he had brought along to discuss the current mission. He nodded at an enlisted crewman and made his way to the chief's office door and pressed the chime button. He hadn't had the opportunity to meet the ship's new security chief yet but based on his own thorough analysis of the man's files, was very impressed by the experience Joustra had under his belt.
Joustra sitting at his desk, feet on the desk, reading criminal activity reports looked up as the chime rang. He raised an eyebrow he hadn't scheduled any meetings.
" Ja, kom binnen" he said in his second native tongue. For some reason speaking Dutch made him feel more at home here.
"Jolan tru, chief," Vox said in reply as he stepped inside and shook the man's hand. He noted the firm tone and his no-nonsense demeanor right off the bat. "It's good to finally meet you face to face. I've heard a lot about you," he said with a smile. Vox considered it obvious good policy to greet department heads and discuss important topics face to face, despite his position not exactly in the ship's chain of command.
" Yeah, 40 years in the fleet, everybody knows something. So Intelligence, Commander Vox, I presume. Drink?" Joustra said as he walked towards the office replicator.
"Are you a whiskey man?" Vox gave the question as somewhat light.
"To be honest I would drink paint thinner. But yeah I drink whiskey, most of my stuff is in transit. Yet I confiscated a bottle from the bar a few days back." Producing Aldebaran whiskey from a drawer and two glasses. "It's green."
Templar's eyebrows rose at the sight of a very special brand of spirit. "Now that's a whiskey for grown-ups," he said with a smirk. "It's almost to the level of Romulan ale, which says something." He leaned back in his chair. "I didn't know we had any onboard. The lounge usually carries few real alcohols."
"Oh the flight engineers got a still along with the engineers.. then we have the boys in security who are sitting on a few crates of real beer, the European kind, and a few dozen bottles of rum, whiskey and vodka. Also we got a few dozen officers who have their own choice selection. This is not a very dry ship." Joustra grinned as he poured two glasses. " But to go after that is not worth the effort, besides way more fun to act like I don't know."
Vox let out a soft chuckle as he listened to the experienced officer explain the realities of ship duty. It was quite refreshing to meet someone less rigid and stuffy as the typical officer. "I couldn't agree more," he said as he clinked his glass against Joustra's. "Cheers, mate."
"Aye, but what I do like is arresting people. Got a big ship, got an empty brig and I got 20 or so choice targets from Starfleet who operate in this sector. So what I need to know is... how many are on your payroll or are in the better interest of Starfleet to ignore? Also, any kind of information you have I'd like to get." Joustra said as he took a sip of his drink.
Templar took a big smooth swig of the green booze and felt it burn on the way down. He grinned as he eyed the glass in his hand a moment before looking back at the chief. "Tell me, Joustra... What do you know about Klovax Two?"
"Nothing to be honest. Forty years in the fleet, served on, I think about ten percent of Federation space . Spent a bunch if years near Betazed, a few years on academy staff and the Dominion War had me hopping planets. Last ten years spent patrolling the Tzenkethi border. So my geography on Federation planets is slim to none." He sat back nursing his drink.
Templar nodded as he listened to the security chief give a brief summary of a very long career. "That's quite the list of assignments, Mister Joustra," he said with a smirk. He took another sip of the green stuff and settled back in his seat. "Well, Klovax Two isn't much to look at but has one huge city that's known for seedy, shady happenings. And it just so happens that I might have a little inside knowledge on a few illegal shipments that pass through the sector."
"And let me guess, the head of sector security is a rotating post for the last few years. Like every year a new captain or admiral? I don't crack hard on the regular illegal shipments like booze and low grade narcotics. Weapons, biomimetic gel, is the nasty stuff I do." Joustra started up his desk panel.
Vox grinned and calmly said, "Then you'd be interested to know about just such an operation going on there involving biomimetic gel shipments through an unidentified though suspected Starfleet contact." He let the words hang in the air for both of them to savor.
Joustra bit his lip and went through sector security, medical and operations personnel. "Must be a commander or up, clear the enlisted, because they don't have the clearances. Warrant officers you can excluded as well, might have the clearance, but they tend to be loyal or lazy. Biomimetic gel usually is medical staff so your suspect is either a really high up in operations, security or a doctor."
Templar nodded along as Joustra processed the situation and tried to filter out who the suspects might be. "Intelligence agrees with you, though they tend to think it's more than one person. So far, attempts to narrow it down have proven unsuccessful. Not many Starfleet ships out this way, coupled with lots of independent worlds and lots of civilian traffic make it a good spot to set up shop."
"So what you need is a list of suspects who can pull it off. Know the sector so has been here longer than 5 years. That rules out admirals or captains. They rotate every 2 to 3 years... so dead end commanders who refuse to move through... I got 4 doctors and 3 commanders. 2 in security 1 in operations. They might work together. I got a Bolian, Vulcan and a human. Bolian works for Starfleet Intelligence, but I'm not supposed to know that. Same as two of the doctors." He grinned as he looked through his data. "Two doctors and two commanders. They might just work together on this little scam."
Vox nodded slowly as he thought about the potential combinations involved in such a scheme. He sipped his drink once more and grinned slightly at Joustra. "Well, we should definitely continue this conversation..."
Commander Vox Templar
Chief Intelligence Officer, USS Mercutio
Warrant Officer Michael Joustra
Chief Security Officer, USS Mercutio
