There and Back Again

Posted on Tue Apr 27th, 2021 @ 4:54pm by Captain Henry Crow

Mission: Knock Knock
Location: Starbase 134

Henry stood in the cargo bay watching the new engineers who had come aboard a short time before at work. He couldn't knock their productivity. Upon the arrival of the Mercutio at Starbase 134 for the second time in recent memory an unmarked device had been flown over and docked in their cargo bay. It was the size of a shuttle but round like an enlongated oval. Orders directly from Admiral Calo had cleared the bay except for these new crew who were in and out of the vehicle. Henry himself hadn't been inside it yet and he doubted if he would be.

He turned at the sound of footsteps and saw the Admiral himself. "Sir, I wasn't aware you were coming aboard."

The man chuckled, clapping him on the shoulder. "The less my name gets tossed around the better." He turned to the crewmen. "Amazing, arent they?"

Henry picked up something in his tone. "What's their story?"

Calo looked over. "The finest in android technology. They don't sleep, they work nonstop, and they don't tell secrets."

"Sir, I really would have liked to been in the loop if I was going to have synthetics here."

"I know you would. Hell, if I was you I would have too and I'll spare you the blanket security BS. The fact is we needed them to put the finishing touches on it. Henry you're looking at the finest example of listening technology we have in the Fleet."

"So it's a spy ship."

"Oh, way better than that. When we get that thing in position we're going to be able to hear everything going on in that neighborhood. We already have learned that the Black Crest has a Klingon partner in the trouble they plan to cause."

"Why would a Klingon help them?"

"You know how they are. A lot of them still long for the days of conquest that they grew up hearing about. Spark a war and gain your glory."

"Got a name?"

"K'tlah" By the look Henry gave him the Admiral raised his brows. "Sound familiar?"

"We had a run in with him. He fits your description for the glory seeking warrior."

"That's why we need you to deploy this. Once we have the proof we can go to the Klingons and make sure they don't take the bait."

"Well it's not exactly subtle. How do you keep them from finding it and destroying it?"

"It's got an experimental cloaking device. When activated it just looks like a piece of rock floating in space."

"You guys think of everything."

"No," said Calo. "If we did, we'd all be retired and living in peace."

The Admiral wished him and the Mercutio well before walking out. Henry tapped his badge. "Helm, set course for the coordinates we were given. Raise shields but don't blare the yellow alert."

"Aye Captain. ETA is eleven hours, forty-nine minutes."

Henry thanked her and felt the very slightly shift as the ship moved away from the Starbase. It was time to deliver the package. Maybe he'd get to see K'tlah one more time.





Captain Henry Crow
Commanding Officer, USS Mercutio