Prelude
"Chief petty officer Tina Krasnovsky's personal log, stardate 53294.2. Proceeding upon my duty while acting representative to the Koshnaya starfleet embassy I am puzzled to realize that the mathematical and scientific complexities of my work seems undermined compared to the current state of affairs between the Federation and the disturbed exterior planets that has yet to come to good terms after the recent Dominion War."
"I am to believe that the situation will soon come into it's own terms, beyond that, bureaucracy and resentment are growing elements when dealing with the Koshnaya member species. Faith in the good deeds presented by the United Federation of Planets seems only utopic now; certain cultures no long fall onto our grasp and common understanding seems to be forgotten." Looking through her living quarters window, Tina estimated that remained 37 minutes until her next appointment; she decided that was time for her to finalize the log and proceed to the designated place.
While walking through U.S.S. Angela Martine sixth deck main corridor, near the transporter room 3E, a voice transmission was at play through her badge: "Chief, please report immediately to my ready room, I already assigned another officer to take over your duties." Ordered ship's captain Aquiel. Although Tina knew and was very heartly into rigorous schedules for her and her crewmates, external events, happenings beyond her own control, were always triggering Tina's need to improvise and rapidly adapt into any situation. Sometimes she felt as if she was undergoing training under a strictly military division. "My science ambitions and ideals are frequently at the background", she thought.
Krasnovsky's feelings were not totally inadequate. As for her current assignment, certain events has had it's fair share of misadventures and chaotic attempts of destabilization and emotional turmoil, not only for herself but the well being and safety of the crew also. As for the Angela current location, a Continuum-class starship near the Breen Confederacy, at the minor system of Mareuvia III, problems were guaranteed.
"Captain, chief Krasnovsky reporting in." Informed communications officer Lt. commander Nosh Brurker through a computer voice transmission.
"Send her in, please!" Responded Aquiel as she put down her datapad on a medium-sided delta shape table full of engineering schematics and old fashioned journals alongside a discreet and elegant golden portrait of her vulcan family insignia.
Aquiel's full name are somewhat complicated to properly express in any human language, specially English. Her surname are usually written as Kawarda, or kahwa'ra-de as in golic vulcan, a loosely translation sets it as "similar mind"; a description given to a twin. Her elder sister stands with Mestral, mes-tor ye-halek; one who crosses the galaxy.
Kawarda were part of a cultural exchange program between the Vulcan southwest government and the Federation. She lived with humans during her residence at the Starfleet Academy, through a prolonged and difficult assimilation of human culture and the development of some few genuine friendships, she unofficially received the name of Aquiel - something that she was neutral but respectful of.
"Captain, reporting as ordered!" Declared the chief as the sliding doors behind her were silently closing and finishing with the brief clearer light that contrasted the blue and red from their respective uniforms before return the room to it's usual gloomy setting.
"Please sit down chief Krasnovsky." Said Aquiel as she directed Tinta into a chair at the other side of the delta table. "I requested your presence here to discuss a matter long overdue by Starfleet command and at your own request sidelined."
"Captain, with all due respect, I do not believe that there is any matter unattended. All of my reports has been minutiously inspected by my superior officers and Koshnaya starfleet embassy representatives at Starbase Sierra." Her voice showcased one tonality usually associated to someone who is trying to remain calm while simultaneously disturbed; though such remark could only be made by someone attentive and professional at identifying subtle behavioural variations. Kawarda not only surpass such qualifications but her occasional telepathic usage serves as a reminder to everyone that she was fully in the midst of her emotional and thoughtful fortress.
"You are correct, I can offer the interpretation that officially there is no matter to attend to between us besides our usual obligations aboard this vessel." Calmly remarked the captain without losing track of any minor movement from her subordinated. "But I am proficient at assign causes to the most diverse facts and choices, as are you. I should not ignore what you are and aren't telling me, they are both complementary to the truth. Do you prefer to continue in this route of conversation or to change your premises ?"
"Actually I prefer to know your reasons for questioning me in such manner as such required answers may depend on your current interpretation of events. Anything beyond that may came out as harmful to my reputation and the discernment of my public career." The chief in this moment was already defeated in trying to prevent any further enquiries. According to her reasoning, the best approach would be to understand the captain's motivations and if when push comes to shove, then explain everything thoroughly.
"Reasonable." Agreed Aquiel, while showing a little and discreet hint of admiration towards Krasnovsky's posture in front of her; smartness and defiance. Two characteristics often contradictory to the Vulcans but common law to the Romulans.
"According to some classified Starfleet reports, several sectors are now without a direct federative representative or of any sort of Federation influence. The high Council has issued priority orders to several captains and admirals at strategic regions of the quadrant to deal with the crisis. Simultaneously, has come onto our attention the need to enforce our regulations alongside the borders near the Ferengi Alliance and the unstable Cardassian Union."
The comment above did not contain any new information with regards to the current state of affairs, however during her speech, captain Aquiel has dedicated several tappings into her datapad, producing a sequence of sounds so low in it's frequency but yet passive of interpretation. A recursive and yet undedicated analysis of these sounds would justify some of it's similarities with the 1836 based off electrical telegraph system, Morse code.
"I am also in accord to some hypothesis that several unclassified biological weapons has been smuggled through dissidents Breen generals into the control of 14 factions on our current system location. More specifically, at the locations of Boslic IX and Galvin V, relatively near to the Federation administrative region surrounding the Starbase Sierra." Captain Aquiel suddenly sighed and leaned back in her chair, crossing fingers in a manner that easily indicates complex thought process. Her chin slowly touched her crossed hands while one lifted finger pointed at a perpendicular direction.
Krasnovsky strangely move her head into the left direction appointed. At the vertical panel set at the wall, one brief phrase was written: Do briefly a discussion on your latest work concerning the installation of the new astrometrics system and later go to your room and follow the instructions here given.
No doubts were present that the entire situation was a façade to something else. Capt. Kawarda acted as if the presentation made by the chief about her latest research were of some relevance; but if not to distract from the concurrent spionage being maintained by some agents aboard Angela Martine, at least to safeguard her own plans.
As Tina was standing ready to get up and leave the room, one beep suddenly was heard by both parts of this conversation. Aquiel played a severe and enthralling look into Krasnovsky's eyes, demonstrating that not only she knew but also adhere to her course of action.
"Do you require extra engineer personnel to complete the installation until 16 hundred hours?"
"No captain, I do not!" The hesitation on her speech was noticeable. Aquiel quietly approach her and slightly touch the cold and yet pleasing hand of Tina. All of this without for a single instant losing sight of her gaze.
No words were needed. The chief felt as if an unexpected regain of composure was always under her reach under the most violent and desperate situations. The small contact between the two continued for as long as the low sound coming from the captain's datapad remained; Tina lost track of time, and Kawarda lowered it's counting priority to that of the moment only.
The sound frequency highered up.
"You are dismissed, chief Krasnovsky!" Said the captain with a steady but yet charming voice. Crossing the doors, Tina believed to have heard a small vulcan honorary poem verse; Taluhk nash-veh k'dular, but could not be sure.
Finally in her room, Tina Krasnovsky rapidly accessed her contact through a alternate and undocumented connection to the ship's secondary computer communications relay. The message sent was brief: section 31.
"Captain's log stardate 53294.8. According to latest reports from all sections, all main systems are back to a fully operational status after the attempted sabotage of our warp core at precisely 3 days, 17 hours and 43 minutes ago. The culprit has yet to be identified but due to the coordinates of our present location and the nature of our mission, events such as this, thought traumatic in its requirements, are to be naturally expected."
"The main course of investigation currently at our disposal is a full reverse engineering of our main computer system alongside the fourth secondary set of registry subroutines of the main engineering bay. External sources to the invasion are being taken into consideration. Currently assigned are Lt. commander Nosh Brurker, Lt. Sergey Rozhenko, Lt. Storya Suryan and I have decided to complement the team with the direct association of chief petty officer Tina Krasnovsky as their temporary coordinator; a decision bound to increase controversy among the crew."
Suddenly Aquiel stopped the recording log entry. Thinking about the career so far constructed by her seemslily unpredictable officer, Tina's parents indiscreetly came into her mind. They were both highly regarded special commissioned officers to the federative Andorian embassy at Beta Antares IV starstation in the Vulcan System; work and love partners that contrasted their human frailties by situating themselves at the highest possible performance in their duties independently of any health consequences, something that certainly are headly registred in Krasnovsky's highly obsessive personality type - as for the crew manifesto, Kawarda made use of all Tina's honorary and assignment titles earned to justify her intellectual prowess against the competition settling around the Angela Martine launch that seeked to guarantee a more conservative affiliation .
Krasnovsky's position are somewhat unclear, at least to the majority of the crew. Prior to her assignment aboard Angela, she acted exclusively under ambiguous and direct orders from the admirals in Starbase Sierra. A Federation outpost which holds significantly power in the circumscribed region, not only due to it's nine experimental Consecrated class starships but also the Koshnaya starfleet embassy; maintaining a somewhat self-autonomous administrative region; a ideal space that to many would serve as a framework for unsanctioned political, scientific and military experimentations simply justified by the need to protect the United Federation of Planets against external forces that sees in the actual fragmented main governments inumerous opportunities to gain higher power in the quadrant; however the fact that direct confrontation are not yet common, they are increasing and constantly ravaging the agenda of politicians and generals.
Since the ending of the Dominion War, Starfleet and the associated Federation institutions as come into a political and military recession. Although not all documents and reports has been made public, is estimated that at least one third of the fleet has been destroyed, the Klingon Empire has also seen better times compared to it's 22nd and 23th century entire frontier scope.
In the stardates between 52877 and 52941, Starfleet High Command and the new leader of the Klingon High Council, under Emperor Martok's rule, signed bilateral accords to the creation of a special task force in response to the Romulan Star Empire incursions into the Omega and Archanis federative systems, near the Klingon border of Maranga IV and Narendra III, alongside these treaties special defensive mechanisms has been installed at the northern regions of the Gorn Hegemony and the Tholian Assembly.
These activities eventually broke into a diplomatic and institutional crisis between the Federation and the Romulan senate. Leading to the sudden imprisonment of several federation scientists and diplomats that were granted temporary access to work under their space stations of Nimbus III and Ghorusda, directly under the jurisdiction of the Romulan Ministry of Science, at the Neutral Zone; consequently reverting also all the amendments applied into the Treaty of Algeron.
Consequently to the dissolution of all alterations made into the treaty, the Federation lost it's legal ability to develop and use starfleet vessels with the capabilities of a clock device. The Federation High Council voted to the final dissolvement of the document and to the end of all cooperation efforts dedicated at the Defiant Project during the Dominion conflicts - the pieces were set but with the rules of the game yet unclear; and so a new war was flourishing throughout the galaxy.