Expanding our Intelligence Resources
Posted on Fri Dec 19th, 2025 @ 3:10pm by Lieutenant Commander Ryan Keel & Captain Remy Johansen & Commander Maxun Spello
1,398 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Peril at the Unification Accords
Location: USS Astrea Intelligence Suite, Keel's Office
Timeline: MD 02: En Route To Barisa? (BACKPOST)
"I think it would be a good fit for Keel, Captain," Maxun reiterated as they were making their way to the diplomatic suites. "He's shown he has the aptitude. And, as a former member of SFI, I could stand in as his sponsor, until he gets an official approval from HQ."
"If he's interested, but given his background, I think he might enjoy it," she suggested.
Maxun nodded in agreement as they continued towards their destination.
When Spello and Johansen arrived at the Chief's office where they found Keel's door open. The strong smell of raktajino drifted out of the office, carried on a soft Rigellian bluegrass tune. Keel found that he worked better with some music in the background, particularly when cramming as much information as he could - with the conference on Barissa Prime coming up, the man didn't want to put a foot wrong.
Seeing two shadows cross the threshold, Keel looked up from his terminal, momentarily discomfitted by the fact he was working in his uniform undershirt. 'Hello,' he said lamely after a moment, his brain glitched by the unexpected arrival of the ship's two seniormost officers. 'Please come in, take a seat,' he indicated the comfortable sofa and armchairs tucked in the corner of the room. 'Can I help you with something?'
As they stepped inside, Maxun stepped aside, to allow Remy to speak first.
"Good morning, Lieutenant," Remy said as she took one of the seats. "Hopefully this isn't a bad time. Nothing to be alarmed about, we were just looking at departments, and the crew and allocation of resources, and thought we could talk to you about how things are going on here, and possibly some changes we were thinking about and wondering if you even thought they might work."
Raising his eyebrows, Keel slipped onto the sofa, leaning back and folding one leg over the other. Though his heartrate had raised, he put on his best calm demeanor and offered a smile, and a cautious answer. 'It's never a bad time to talk about resource allocation and change needed.'
"Given the state of affairs in the quadrant, we were wondering if it would be useful for you to be able to partner with Intelligence more easily," Remy replied. "Your insight leading up to these Accords was well - it seems like you have more to offer here than just being in charge of our diplomatic affairs,. It's something that Commander Spello thought we could work on."
Maxun nodded as he spoke up. "I'd be happy to provide any help you might need, if you're interested in pursuing the position."
Brightening, Keel leaned forward excited at the prospect. 'Yes, of course I'm interested in pursuing that position. As you probably know from my service record, at the tail end of my time with the Marines we were assigned to a Starfleet Intelligence outfit and did some fieldwork for them. It was ... interesting. And challenging. But I won't let that stand in my way.'
He turned to Spello, "Any advice rendered would be greatly received. Along with any additional training you might feel I lack."
Maxun nodded approvingly. "Thats the first best step to take, realizing you don't know it all." The El Aurian chuckled softly. "I've seen more intelligence agents burn out because they were too proud to ask for help. More knowledge on hand as opposed to simply guess your way through a crisis, is the same as either having a loaded phaser in a battle, or a broken slingshot."
'Don't I know it. We had at least two missions go south because the field agent in charge couldn't admit when they were in the wrong,' Keel observed. 'I don't intend on letting that happen to any of our crew, you can count on that.' He looked to both his superior officers. 'So we're all agreed here ... I take it you'll need to run these through some channels before we can commit?'
"I don't see your division taking any issue with a few extra credentials, but since Starfleet Intelligence operates as it's own arm, we'll need them to approve your credentials, but with your background in the Marines and clean record, we don't think it will be an issue," Remy answered casually. "We already have an intelligence officer on board, so it would be nice if she wasn't an island here, working in isolation."
'Hopefully SI can get it approved quickly then - it's no pleasure to be dealing with a department's work on your own.' Keel thought a moment, then asked, 'what about Adoran Trass? I know he's been more a field agent, but perhaps he can help with the paperwork for a change.'
Remy paused, her eyes looking up and to the left briefly as she took a moment to recall who Keel was references. "Did he join us before we left for Freecloud?" She asked. "I don't know him. Have you worked much with him? Ensign, right?"
'He's still an Ensign?' Keel laughed and shook his head. 'Trass has always refused a promotion - the grump likes to stay close to the action without having to take too much responsibility. Can you imagine that, a near forty-year career at the same rank?'
'I've worked with him once or twice over the years. Not much since I transferred to Diplomatics. He was on the same transport over as I was. Long flight, short conversation, which is typical of the man.'
"I'll be putting in for the new position personally," Remy stated, "But I'm happy to have Mr. Trass take care of the back and forth logistics in the interim."
"Anything else?" Remy asked. "Commander, can you think of anything?"
Maxun considered the question for a few beats, then offered as he looked at Keel, "Should you run into an difficulties dealing with the intel brass, let me know right away, and I'll talk to them." He didn't add that he knew most of the older officers, back when they were starting out in the field as young ensigns.
"Alright," Remy stood up. "I'm glad you are interested, Lieutenant. With the way things have been shaking out in the Beta Quadrant, I think this will be good for your division."
'I hope so,' Keel replied as he got to his feet and offered his hand to the Captain. 'Thanks for the opportunity too - access to higher classified documents will make the rest of my job a little easier when we're negotiating with locals. Hopefully it'll give us an edge when we're out there trying to stop the house from blowing down."
Maxun stood as well, offering his hand to Keel again. "Let me know if you have any issues with the brass back at HQ." He gave the younger man a friendly grin as he finished speaking.
"I will, Sir," Keel replied, returning the Commander's grip for a firm, no-nonsense handshake. "I'm sure any obstacles that come up we'll be able to surmount them together." As Keel recognized the conversation was drawing to a close, a warm feeling of satisfaction flooded his system, tangled up with some trepidation too. He hadn't expected his stay on the Astrea to become more complicated than a diplomatic assignment, but he was damned sure he was going to take on the opportunity while there was no official Chief of Intelligence.
The El Aurian nodded and gave Keel a friendly grin. "I'm sure we will, Mister Keel." He then looked at Remy, to see if she had anything further to add.
"We'll keep you posted then," Remy said as she led the way out of the office. "If you think of anything else, don't hesitate to reach out."
'Of course,' Keel replied to their backs as they left. Smiling to himself, he sat down and continued with his work.
Captain Remira Johansen
Commanding Officer
USS Astrea
Commander Maxun Spello
First Officer
USS Astrea
Lieutenant Ryan Keel
Chief of Diplomatic Intelligence
USS Astrea
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