Where the Cool Kids Congregate, Part II
Posted on Fri Apr 24th, 2026 @ 12:36pm by Lieutenant Jean-Baptiste Dorsainvil & Lieutenant JG Ilian Ashford & Lieutenant JG Fulvia & Ensign Adoran Trass
1,506 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Peril at the Unification Accords
Location: Intelligence Suite, Deck 8
Timeline: MD09, 1220 Hours
Previously: Where the Cool Kids Congregate, Part I
Jean-Baptiste quietly excused himself and ordered a Te Jenjanm from the replicator. Perhaps it was simply his tastebuds playing tricks on him, but a real ginger tea made at home by his mother tasted so much better.
"If it's in orbit around one of the poles, we could deploy someone to the poles and try to hit it with a cloak disrupter," Fulvia suggested.
He turned back to the table and picked up the data PADD again while the Intelligence officers spitballed and waxed. The theory floated by the square-jawed Lieutenant was not without merit.
"Operations and security have performed three sweeps," he said to Ashford. "Astrea was well out of range of any debris when the freighter destructed, Lieutenant...?"
Ashford’s expression shifted slightly at that, the thought settling into place behind his eyes. “Ashford,” he supplied, almost as an afterthought as the silence stretched, before his attention dropped briefly to the PADD in JB’s hand and then back again. If the Astrea was out of range, that would nake random debris a less useful explanation. Which would leave intent, or proximity before the fact. Either the transmission was sent before the freighter broke apart, or something aboard it was already trying to reach that vessel while it was still intact. He took a deeper breath but didn't speak. It was suddenly more about what on the ship knew where to send the message to.
JB looked at the Bolian who was still sucking on a hard confectionary. Seeing a fellow officer with something in their mouth brought him back to more promising times at Starfleet Intelligence. Behind closed doors, officers were less formal and the Bolian Ensign had an endearing quality to him.
"You're right, Ensign." JB scrolled through the PADD once again. "Romulan holo technology is at least a full generation behind our own--as far as we know. As for the the Romulan delegation at the Accords, I've been informed that if a warbird is in the vicinity, it is not connected."
He turned to Fulvia and the look on her face told him she was thinking the same thing: Tal Shiar.
Fulvia nodded. Ever since the still fishy as hell destruction of Romulus, the Tal Shiar had gotten worse even by their standards.
'Romulans!' Trass exclaimed, 'still at each others throats even with their homeworld gone.' He shook his head, and took a seat opposite JB. 'Do we have anything to indicate that it's still in the same position? Seems awfully risky now the Nidean freighter has essentially given them away.' As he talked, he activated the holo projector in the table, bringing up a washed-out, see-through image of Barisa Prime. The wan light illuminated the tracery of scars along his hands. 'There's several routes away from the pole that would have made detection incredibly difficult.'
JB nodded along with the Bolian's assessment. "Those D'deridex-class warbirds are not as sneaky as the Romulans would have us believe." He picked up the data PADD again and scrolled through it lazily before stopping.
"According to the hourly logs, the last sensor sweep detected nothing at twelve-hundred hours--though, I don't believe it was more than a standard sweep," JB added, reading the raw data.
Raising an eyebrow in a most Vulcan-like manner, Trass nodded, 'so still a chance they're in the same location. Perhaps they're hoping that the holo-transmission went undetected and are still hiding out at the pole.' He considered the holo for a moment. 'A more invasive scan might tip them off - anyone know of something we can scan for that won't trip them up?'
Ashford stayed quiet for a moment, watching the washed-out image of Barisa Prime above the table before looking back to Trass. “It might be...difficult,” he said at last, a bit thoughtful as he tilted his head. “We could try and find what the cloak leaves behind. Tachyon emissions, subspace variance, a distortion in the sensor readings that should not be there...” One corner of his mouth shifted faintly. “If we can make it look like we are just doing standard scans. Not poke the bear...”
'That sounds like a good idea,' Trass said from his side of the holo-table. He zoomed the image out until it contained both Barisa Prime and her two moons. 'If we can make it look like a standard sweep out towards both moons, we should be able to capture any possible location. Could we involve the starbase in it too? Or ... are we keeping this on the down-low for now?'
JB touched his finger to his nose, indicating secrecy.
"The Captain wants us to keep this in-house for the time being," he said. "We don't know who might be listening."
Placing the mug of tea on the center table, Jean-Baptiste seated himself and smoothed the front of his uniform tunic. "Please know, I'm not trying to shoot-down any of your ideas. You're the experts. I'm just the interdepartmental liaison." He offered a weak but warm smile to the trio.
Fulvia was thinking, clicking her tongue against the side of her mouth as she did so. A habit she'd picked up from Xalanth. "We could try my pole idea, try to disguise the scan among the pole magnetic activity."
JB lifted the steaming cup to his mouth and took a tiny, tentative sip before a sharply recoiling almost losing its contents. Setting it back down on the table, he looked at the Magna Roman. "How could we pull it off?"
"Drop one or two of us along with some jammers to the planet's poles at such a level that we would just appear to be space debris falling to the planet. Hide the jammers' signal among the magnetic poles and see if we could reveal are Romulan guests," The Magna Roman explained.
JB turned to Ashford and Trass. "Gentlemen, how do you feel about the Lieutenant's idea?"
Ashford looked back to the image of Barisa Prime, his attention settling on the poles as though he were trying to see the shape of the plan inside them before he spoke. “It could work, space debris is just...noise for scanners,” he said after a moment, and raised an eyebrow as a small smile pulled at his lips. “The interference would help cover an approach, and if they are using the poles for concealment already, they may not expect anyone to turn that to our advantage.” He drew a slow breath, then let it go with a small shake of his head. Tactically... well. His eyes went to Fulvia. “I would be more comfortable if we had an extraction plan for worst case scenario... if those we drop gets spotted.” He looked at Trass, his brown eyes studying the Bolian, wondering what his read on it all was.
His eyes lit up, a sallow yellow colour flashing across them. 'Sounds like fun,' Trass said with a smile, leaning in towards the holo. 'Spaced out well enough, we should be able to pick up on any aberrant signals.' He leaned back, folded his arms and shrugged. 'Besides, if it goes wrong, we're not the ones who'll be filing the paperwork.'
"I'll leave the details to you three, then." JB picked up the data PADD and turned toward the door. "Let me know if there is anything you need from a security or operations standpoint and I'll endeavour to make it happen."
"I'll get a list together of everything we'd need and see about an extraction plan." Fulvia responded already creating the list in her mind.
Before Jean-Baptiste completely left, he turned one more time to the trio. "Things are very fluid right now so if anything changes--and it probably will--you'll be the first to know."
He was gone a half-second later, heading back to security to continue his own work.
Trass continued looking at the holo of Barissa Prime. He grunted a laugh, then rubbed the scar tissue that ringed his neck underneath the turtleneck of his uniform. 'I guess it's time to put the cats amongst the pigeons then.'
Lieutenant Jean-Baptiste Dorsainvil
Assistant Chief Security Officer
USS Astrea
Lieutenant JG Ilian Ashford
Intelligence Officer
USS Astrea
(NPC of Ángel Martinez)
Lieutenant JG Fulvia
Intelligence Officer
USS Astrea
(NPC of Xalanth)
Ensign Adoran Trass
Intelligence Officer
USS Astrea
(NPC of Ryan Keel)
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