Old Soldiers Never Die Part 1

Captain's Log, Stardate 40426.5

Extended Stay Starbase and New Orders

Repairs to the Niven were progressing, but taking far too long for my wanderlust. It felt like my life aboard a starbase was nothing but meetings after stifling meetings. I knew I belonged in the sky.

In one particular meeting, a few members of my crew and Captain Carl Curtis' crew were in attendance along with Rear Admiral Sextus Slate and his entourage. Slate announced that the Niven was two days away from having her repairs completed and would be dispatched back into space to resume our original orders. It was hard to contain my excitement.

He also mentioned that because of the resistance group known as the Maquis growing in number and thus concern, there was a message delivered to our quarters regarding Starfleet's official views on the matter. The Niven would be receiving five Starfleet personnel who intended to join the Maquis. We were to deliver them to Baldaur IV where they would surrender their communicator badges and uniforms and officially resign from their posts.

We were told that the Niven would also be taking a prisoner, a Mr. Wilz, who was in custody after being caught breaking in to Memory Alpha, rendezvous with the police cruiser Nemesis, and hand him over to the proper authorities.

The last item on the agenda was that Captain Conrad Bain was getting promoted to be the new liaison within the Triangle. He was Bram Harmonson's replacement. I happened to notice that the news did not sit well with Curtis; so much that he announced that if there was ever a position to command a starship, he was ready and able to take the job.

When the meeting adjourned, Lieutenant Commander Hazor spoke with me in private. He said that his nephew had been in a concentration camp, but had been smuggled out. It was serendipitous that he was supposed to be on Baldaur IV so he requested that we take him on as a refugee when he meets up with him. I, of course, told him that his request would be honored.

The message left in my quarters stated that because of the instability on Bajor and families of the many Bajorans within Starfleet being affected, they would allow anyone wanting to join the resistance to do so by resigning from Starfleet without a dishonorable discharge. They were to be fully responsible for any and all actions afterward, but would not be reprimanded for leaving their assignments. I found it difficult to put myself in the position of those leaving us, but they certainly had my sympathies.

An Olive Branch

Before leaving starbase, I wanted to see if I could patch up relations with Curtis. I found him at the mess hall and he gestured for me to join him when I approached. I told him that I knew we did not see eye to eye on many things, but wanted us to be able to work well together from now on. He seemed to be open to that idea. I asked him about Bain and Curtis listed out what he knew about his career. He did not seem to care for him much as a person, but perhaps that was because he was junior to him and was getting promoted to a position that would have nothing to do with sitting behind a desk at a starbase. I felt sorry for him, but held my tongue as to not insult him. I certainly will never take my position for granted; there really is no substitute for holding the reins.

The Niven departed Starbase 27 and we were underway to Baldaur IV. It was exhilarating to be back on the bridge of my ship.

Playground Fight

The day progressed without incident, but later that night, I was roused from sleep with a message from security saying that there was a brawl in 11 Aftward. Though the messenger said that things were under control again, I was a little edgy from being disturbed and thought that if it were important enough to wake me, it was important enough to give my crew a piece of my mind. I didn't bother dressing in uniform and marched down to the brig.

The security personnel there said that Lieutenant Junior Grade Maniersi was currently being questioned as a witness to the events. I told him that when he was done, I wanted everyone involved to be gathered into one room. He told me that Corporal Tom Hansen was also involved so I immediately called Captain Ian Frazier. I told him to come down to the brig and to bring Hansen as well.

While waiting for everyone to be assembled, I heard the basic story that the incident started when Hansen had a few choice words to say to one of the Bajorans we were dropping off on Baltaur IV. I was rather appalled that things escalated from a mere childish name-calling. I also took a moment to check in on Wilz, and thankfully, everything seemed fine in that holding room.

When I returned across the hall, I saw that my orders were carried out and Warrant Officer Matthew Garibaldi, Hazor, Maniersi, and our Bajoran guests were seated and waiting in the conference room. Minutes after taking my place at the head of the table, Captain Frazier, with his hair mussed up and dressed in nothing but a pair of flannel pajama pants, came in dragging Hansen by the arm. He shoved him into a seat and took a seat himself. He apologized for taking a while to arrive which I waved off, since he obviously got here as quickly as possible. He paged Sergeant Major Michael Pierson to bring him a shirt.

It was then that I realized how ridiculous we must look, being dressed only in a nightgown and robe myself, hastily answering the call of duty. I cleared my throat before a flush rose to my face and donned a very serious expression. I said in a low, even tone that I was only going to say this once: we were in a very precarious position in The Triangle where one false step could lead to intergalactic war on multiple fronts. We were all Starfleet personnel and knew better than to engage in petty squabbling amongst our own ranks. I ordered them to get themselves together and to never disappoint me like this again. After saying my piece and pausing only for a moment for questions, I briskly dismissed them. Captain Frazier spoke to me privately afterwards saying that though Hansen does have some discipline issues, he gave his word that he was an exemplary soldier. I told him that I trusted him to assign appropriate reprimand.

Another Incident

When I returned to my quarters, Commander Devin West was waiting outside the door saying that a secure message had come in addressed to me. I told him to patch it through to my desk. The message was from Slate saying that there was another theft at Memory Alpha that was detected last night, this one much more dire. A derelict ship was stolen from the museum and we were instructed to keep custody of Wilz in case he was involved. He also reported that two more members of my crew were going to be joining the Bajorans we were dropping off.

The next day, we rendezvoused with the police cruiser, Nemesis, as planned. Given my change of orders, however, we met over lunch with Sergeant Princilli and explained the situation with the proper authorization codes. We parted ways peacefully and continued on to the Baldaur system.

Old "Friends"

When we arrived, a star port called Hope's End was our port of call. Maniersi brought up a visual and it was apparent that it was bustling. One of the ships of note was an unmarked K'vort class Klingon battle cruiser. Thinking we may have finally caught up to Chang and Rovek, I had a few diagnostic tests run to see if debris could trace them back to their previous locations. Unfortunately, it was ruled that it was not a ship we had encountered before. And to continue our misfortune, a particular Orion freighter we HAD encountered, the Pride o' Rigel, was docked here as well.

I arranged for a proper send off of our former colleagues and thanked and wished good luck to each of them personally. After their departure, an away team was assembled and sent down to the star port in civilian clothing. I included myself with the team and took Maniersi along to see if we could pick up any clues on the Memory Alpha theft and the current status of The Triangle.