All in a Day's Work
Posted on Tue Dec 6th, 2022 @ 2:35pm by Captain Henry Crow & Ensign Evelyn Moro & Patricia Crow
Mission: Side Stories
Henry sat at his desk as Patricia and Evelyn entered.
“What’s up and why’s she here?” Patricia motioned to the Ensign.
“Well you’re here because of that sweet ride of yours parked in the shuttle bay and she’s here because she’s one of our brightest computer analysts.”
“I don’t follow.”
“I want you to take her off-ship and allow her to use your shuttle to take a peek at the Houseman and her systems.”
“….you want me to what?!”
“I want you to take Ensign Moro on a little ride in your private shuttle and then allow her to use your system to have a look around.” Henry’s eyes went from Patricia to Evelyn, who was doing her absolute best to shrink out of sight.
“You want me to bring the person who hacked my own files onto my classified shuttle and give her carte blanche.”
“Yes.”
“Did you fall out of the hay loft?”
“A few times but look, here’s the deal. We can’t use Mercutio’s systems to get to the bottom of what’s happening. Your shuttle is off the grid.”
“I will monitor everything she does.”
“I expect you will.”
Patricia looks at Evelyn. “Well….come on then, I guess.”
Evelyn let out her breath. “You know, if I hadn’t hacked you, we may never have found you and Millie.”
“Don’t push it.”
“Gotcha.”
Henry watched them leave and looked out the viewport of the Ready Room which had a clear view of the Houseman. If this worked, they’d know the next move. If it didn’t….he wasn’t so sure.
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An hour later the black shuttle drifted out of the shuttle bay. As they headed for their destination, Patricia set it for auto pilot and glanced to Evelyn. The younger woman’s eyes were wide as she took in the sights of the shuttle. Involuntarily her fingers drifted to a red button.
“Don’t…..touch.”
Evelyn’s hand shot back. “Sorry.”
Patricia tapped a series of commands then nodded. “You have access, so just do what you’re gonna do.”
Evelyn got to it, logging in through the shuttle’s systems and bouncing around until she reached the Houseman. “Their security is very lax. I expected this to be more difficult.”
“Well, sometimes you catch a break. Do they have what we need?”
“Mhm. It looks like there is a three way deal going on here. The Federation is pulling off this world and the locals will sell their resources through the Ferengi for what I would imagine is a huge profit.”
“And the Federation?”
“There’s a list of about half a dozen Starfleet officers, important people, who will be getting a cut of the money from the Ferengi.” She swiveled her chair to look at Patricia. “They got people killed so they could get rich. What do we do?”
“We complete the mission and then the Captain can decide what to do next.”
“What if he does nothing?”
“You haven’t been around long enough so I’ll forgive the question. Are you ready to disconnect?”
“Yes, no wait! Something else in their files in a sub directory. Do you know anything about something called Icarus?”
“No, but cute codenames are usually trouble. Download it too and let’s get out of here.”
Evelyn nodded, finishing up. “I’m clear.”
Patricia took control of the shuttle and set a new course. “We’re done here, will rendezvous at the agreed coordinates. Sending you the data we collected.”
“Good job,” said the Captain. We’ll see you in about three hours.”
“Why aren’t we going back?”
So that nobody thinks twice about a shuttle randomly leaving and returning. They’ll pick us up outside the next system.
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Henry read over the files and his blood boiled. His first reaction was to send the information to the other Captains who had lost good people down there. But that would lead to questions and drag the Mercutio into a mess even more than it was. Instead, he drummed his fingers before opening a secure channel to an old friend.
***Knock Knock***
***Whose There? ***
***Who is? ***
************************
***Greetings. You may upload your file now. ***
Henry smirked seeing the old system still worked. He uploaded the file.
***Submission complete. This connection will now end. ***
He stood from his desk and walked onto the Bridge. “Helm, set a course for our quick jaunt. Send the Houseman our regards but we’re needed elsewhere.”
“Aye Sir.”
He took his seat with a momentary glance at the world below. Within a day the deal would be dead and several people with fancy pips would have some explaining to do. All in a day’s work.
