Insurgence

Captain's Log

Stardate: 52920.1

The Lockheed has just arrived in the Xurak Region Through the anxiety of the trip I found myself truly enjoying it. It's been months since I've even had a role on a starship but the feeling never gets old. I'm beginning to appreciate what kind of crew I'm working with here. These people are efficient, determined, and proud. The Granger was a lucky ship.

Commander Maelstrom and I seem to be coordinating well; she's an excellent first officer. Lieutenant Commander Kinkaid just brought me the latest of a dozen battle-readiness reports on the ship's crew and systems, a lot of the crew seems to think of him as a trigger-happy tightwad but I'm discerning great value in him. He's diligent and I can't think of many people I'd rather get stuck with when the going gets rough.

I've spent most of the journey working with both of them; getting insight on the workings of the ship, I'm hoping to get to know other members of the crew when possible.


Captain Paul Lawrence stepped out of his quarters and headed for the nearest turbolift to the bridge. He scratched his head while reading the datapad in his hands. A door opened next to him and Terra Whitridge stepped into the hallway, nearly colliding with the Captain.

"Oops! Sorry sir, that was my fault."

"No problem Ensign. You off to the bridge too?"

"Yeah, we're going to receive our orders here aren't we?" She inquired.

"We arrived a little ahead of schedule. The Nimbus may not be here yet."

"I see." Acknowledged the Ensign as the two entered the turbolift.

"Say, Ensign. I was wondering if you'd like to join Commander Maelstrom and me in the mess hall at oh-nine-hundred."

The blonde Ensign seemed to shudder for a moment. "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

"Of course."

"With all due respect, sir, I've been through this before, 'Care to join the senior staff in the mess hall Ensign?', 'Want to visit the holodeck with some other officers later?', I've heard them all sir."

"I-I'm not sure what you're getting at." The Captain defended.

"Sir, I'm not looking for any special treatment because of my fath…" she paused, "Admiral Whitridge."

"Hold." He half shouted at the turbolift. "Ensign, you're taking this the wrong way."

"Am I?" She asked. "I'm not like the rest of the crew here sir; I didn't serve on the Granger. The past three Captains I served under all treated me the same. They all act like they want to get to know me, especially if my father's around."

"Here's what I know about you Ensign: You've passed up six promotions to the rank of Lieutenant, and I could guess why."

"It's true! They were all influenced by my father!"

"There is no way you could know that, I've read your service record; did it ever occur to you that you may just be that good of a pilot? You can't go through your life being superstitious about preferential treatment, you won't get anywhere. You're throwing your career away because of your father's rank. And by the way, on this ship, you're the only one who cares about the Admiral's relationship to you." He took a moment to breathe before ordering the turbolift again, "Resume!"

The doors finally opened exposing the two to the bridge. "Ensign." He addressed her again.

"Yes sir?"

"I will see you in the mess hall at oh-nine-hundred."

"Aye sir." Finished the helmsman as she took her post at the forward station.

"Mr. Kinkaid," questioned Captain Lawrence, "What's the status of the Nimbus?"

"One Nebula Class ship is entering the system now, sir, it's the Nimbus. The Admiral is requesting to beam directly to your ready room."

"I'll be waiting."


"…and from the Hopran system we'll be able to launch a two pronged attack against the remaining Sect forces." The Admiral finished his demonstration of the Federation battle-plan as he pointed to a chart on the viewscreen in front of Captain Lawrence.

"Looks good to me, Admiral. When do we begin the offensive?" Asked the Captain.

"There is one wildcard in all of this," the Admiral continued, "we've intercepted encrypted Sect messages that talk about a 'Major Vhit.' This is one of the Sect's most trusted officers, but the captured transmissions we received hint at him experimenting with some type of technology that they believe will turn the tide of this war in their favor. This could just be some boasting Romulan who's trying to get on the up-and-up with the Sect; alternatively, if this is credible information, 'Major Vhit' might just shut down our operation before it starts. Your first role in this operation is to investigate these findings, and keep whatever the Major is up to out of our way."

"Understood." The Captain responded, "I have a Bolian aboard who claims to be pretty good at cryptography. If I could, I'd like to give him access to the transmissions and see if I can get a little more insight on their nature."

"That shouldn't be a problem, I'll have my chief engineer send them over immed…"

"Bridge to Captain Lawrence!" Lieutenant Commander Kinkaid's voice yelled through the comm. system.

"What is it Mr. Kinkaid?"

"Sir, you'd better get up here right away. A battle group of Sect strike craft just decloaked around us."

"We have tachyon particle sensors on at all times, how did we not detect them?"

"I don't know, Captain. It must be a new form of cloak… They're hailing us, sir. They want to speak to the Admiral, he says his name is… Major Vhit Retrick."