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current_story:whispers_in_the_void_part_1 [2023/09/17 19:26] – cromwellcurrent_story:whispers_in_the_void_part_1 [2023/11/05 16:37] (current) – cromwell
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 **Location: Office of the Chief of Starfleet Operations, Starfleet Headquarters, Earth\\  **Location: Office of the Chief of Starfleet Operations, Starfleet Headquarters, Earth\\ 
-Timeframe: Stardate 58095.2 (Four years ago -- shortly after the death of Ensign Kuga)**+Timeframe: Stardate 58095.2 ([[archives:walking_wounded#chapter15|Four years ago]] -- shortly after the death of Ensign Kuga)**
  
 A wood-lathed door with an oval, Starfleet-emblazoned window remained shut at the front of the circular office, which boated a beige carpet with a blue Federation emblem stretched across the room from wall-to-all.  Along the perimeters walnut bookshelves lined the chamber, containing volumes of antique literature, and between casings were more ornate features such as a full-sized display of 15th century Germanic plate armor, a display pedestal showcasing an Excelsior-class starship model, as well as a free-standing Westminster grandfather clock and varnished wood globe of Renaissance-era Earth.  At the rear of the room, large picturesque windows overlooking San Francisco Bay provided a spectacular backdrop to the metallic, semi-circular desk situated in front of them. A wood-lathed door with an oval, Starfleet-emblazoned window remained shut at the front of the circular office, which boated a beige carpet with a blue Federation emblem stretched across the room from wall-to-all.  Along the perimeters walnut bookshelves lined the chamber, containing volumes of antique literature, and between casings were more ornate features such as a full-sized display of 15th century Germanic plate armor, a display pedestal showcasing an Excelsior-class starship model, as well as a free-standing Westminster grandfather clock and varnished wood globe of Renaissance-era Earth.  At the rear of the room, large picturesque windows overlooking San Francisco Bay provided a spectacular backdrop to the metallic, semi-circular desk situated in front of them.
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 The man sitting behind the desk was none other than Vice Admiral Vladimir Kristoff Kostya.  His pepper-gray hair and etched stresslines in his face accentuated his glowering, angry appearance while he dressed down his friend and subordinate across an open subspace channel; that being Commodore Joshua McCain of Gamma Serpentis base in the Gamma Quadrant.  He was in the midsts of covering up their latest blunder, that being the loss of an ultra-secret advanced droneship known as "Dragon", and piloted by a synthetically-grown humanoid who briefly served as a Starfleet Ensign aboard the Galaxy-Class Starship Republic.  Ensign Naruko Kuga was dead, and both Kostya and McCain were scrambling to ensure that she and her now-disintegrated high-tech vessel remained classified and out of the normal Starfleet intelligence briefs.  The man sitting behind the desk was none other than Vice Admiral Vladimir Kristoff Kostya.  His pepper-gray hair and etched stresslines in his face accentuated his glowering, angry appearance while he dressed down his friend and subordinate across an open subspace channel; that being Commodore Joshua McCain of Gamma Serpentis base in the Gamma Quadrant.  He was in the midsts of covering up their latest blunder, that being the loss of an ultra-secret advanced droneship known as "Dragon", and piloted by a synthetically-grown humanoid who briefly served as a Starfleet Ensign aboard the Galaxy-Class Starship Republic.  Ensign Naruko Kuga was dead, and both Kostya and McCain were scrambling to ensure that she and her now-disintegrated high-tech vessel remained classified and out of the normal Starfleet intelligence briefs. 
  
-=/\= "They don't know anything about the project. I'll stake my reputation on it." =/\=+=/\= //"They don't know anything about the project. I'll stake my reputation on it."// =/\=
  
 "Your reputation, Josh," Kostya interjected through intense, squinted eyes. "Doesn't mean very much right now." After a deep breath to calm himself, the admiral continued. "You're to report back to the Gamma Serpentis system at once – and this time, dismantle the entire project. If any shred of evidence is traced back to either you or me, we might as well turn ourselves in to the Federation Council." "Your reputation, Josh," Kostya interjected through intense, squinted eyes. "Doesn't mean very much right now." After a deep breath to calm himself, the admiral continued. "You're to report back to the Gamma Serpentis system at once – and this time, dismantle the entire project. If any shred of evidence is traced back to either you or me, we might as well turn ourselves in to the Federation Council."
  
-=/\= "What about Republic?" =/\=+=/\= //"What about Republic?"// =/\=
  
 "You leave Republic to me. Follow my orders, and don't screw up this time. If you weren't my friend, I'd have you demoted all the way back to crewman first class. Kostya out." "You leave Republic to me. Follow my orders, and don't screw up this time. If you weren't my friend, I'd have you demoted all the way back to crewman first class. Kostya out."
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 Admiral Kostya closed the channel, and proceeded to slowly swivel his chair back and forth while he stared at the blank screen. His eyes betrayed a wandering mind and a longing soul, and as the back-and-forth motion of the chair subsided, he dialed a security code into the lower right drawer of his executive desk. A soft pneumatic hiss registered the opening of the compartment, and after pushing aside a few cherished trinkets and classified security tapes, he produced a deactivated PADD device. With a press of his thumbprint, the admiral brought title screen to life: Admiral Kostya closed the channel, and proceeded to slowly swivel his chair back and forth while he stared at the blank screen. His eyes betrayed a wandering mind and a longing soul, and as the back-and-forth motion of the chair subsided, he dialed a security code into the lower right drawer of his executive desk. A soft pneumatic hiss registered the opening of the compartment, and after pushing aside a few cherished trinkets and classified security tapes, he produced a deactivated PADD device. With a press of his thumbprint, the admiral brought title screen to life:
  
 +<WRAP left round box 30em>
 +<WRAP centeralign>
 **USS SARATOGA INCIDENT FILE BRIEF\\  **USS SARATOGA INCIDENT FILE BRIEF\\ 
 INTERDICTION ORDER #1224\\  INTERDICTION ORDER #1224\\ 
 STARDATE 53718.6\\  STARDATE 53718.6\\ 
 TOP SECRET - FOR YOUR EYES ONLY** TOP SECRET - FOR YOUR EYES ONLY**
 +</WRAP> 
 +</WRAP> 
 +<WRAP>\\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\  
 +</WRAP>
 Settling back into his chair, Kostya sighed. "I won't let them take you from me again, my darling," he whispered. Sifting through several pages on the PADD, he stopped to read one page in detail, as if relishing a nostalgic memory: Settling back into his chair, Kostya sighed. "I won't let them take you from me again, my darling," he whispered. Sifting through several pages on the PADD, he stopped to read one page in detail, as if relishing a nostalgic memory:
  
 +<WRAP left round box 30em>
 +<WRAP centeralign>
 **EXPERIMENTAL HOLOGRID PROJECT\\  **EXPERIMENTAL HOLOGRID PROJECT\\ 
 RESURGENT MEMORY PROGRAMMING\\  RESURGENT MEMORY PROGRAMMING\\ 
 EMH/COMPUTER INTERFACE ANOMALY REPORT** EMH/COMPUTER INTERFACE ANOMALY REPORT**
 +</WRAP>
 +</WRAP>
  
  
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 Timeframe: Stardate 62056.8 (present day)** Timeframe: Stardate 62056.8 (present day)**
  
-As the aging doors to the cargo deck groaned open, the Cardassian-themed storage bay gave way to engineering control consoles and multi-faceted workstations that fueled a number of expertly-placed holo-projectors aimed at the central staging area, clearly demarcating a transition away from a warehousing role and into that of an advanced engineering testing lab.  In the center of control console emplacements, an aging bald man in a lab coat turned to see two Starfleet individuals entering his experimental work area:  Both were of lieutenant commander rank and sported gold piping on their cuffs, thus denoting their positions in the operations/engineering branches.  However, beyond that, the two were of starkly different demeanor, with one being a short youthful Ferengi, while the other was a tall, slender human with black hair peppered with streaks of gray.  +As the aging doors to the cargo deck groaned open, the Cardassian-themed storage bay gave way to engineering control consoles and multi-faceted workstations that fueled a number of expertly-placed holo-projectors aimed at the central staging area, clearly demarcating a transition away from a warehousing role and into that of an advanced engineering testing lab.  At the center of the control console emplacements, an aging bald man in a lab coat turned to see two Starfleet individuals entering his experimental work area:  Both were of lieutenant commander rank and sported gold piping on their cuffs, thus denoting their positions in the operations/engineering branches.  However, beyond that, the two were of starkly different demeanor, with one being a short youthful Ferengi, while the other was a tall, slender human with black hair peppered with streaks of gray.  
  
 The doors ground closed once again as Nog and the taller stranger approached Doctor Zimmerman, and the Ferengi -- who was espousing a barely-containable air of enthusiasm and eagerness -- introduced the newcomer.  The doors ground closed once again as Nog and the taller stranger approached Doctor Zimmerman, and the Ferengi -- who was espousing a barely-containable air of enthusiasm and eagerness -- introduced the newcomer. 
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 The thin engineer-turned-scientist puffed out his chest almost imperceptibly to agree, "I had the distinct honor to serve with many of the best and brightest as her Chief Engineer."  The thin engineer-turned-scientist puffed out his chest almost imperceptibly to agree, "I had the distinct honor to serve with many of the best and brightest as her Chief Engineer." 
  
-"Chief engineer?" the doctor's curmudgeonly eyes lit up with interest.  "Is that so?"  Turning to the Ferengi lieutenant commander with a slight air of indignant, he offered the young man a rare compliment.  "You weren't embellishing things, were you?"  +"Chief engineer?" the doctor's curmudgeonly eyes lit up with interest.  "Is that so?"  Turning to the Ferengi lieutenant commander with a slight air of indignance, he offered the young man a rare compliment.  "You weren't embellishing things, were you?"  
  
 "I told you!" the buoyant officer in operations gold remarked with a smile of giddiness.  "He's the ONE!" "I told you!" the buoyant officer in operations gold remarked with a smile of giddiness.  "He's the ONE!"
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 "Re-validate previous directive!" he bellowed to overcome the conversational occlusion buffers of the Shannon-facsimile.  "Access level two information nodes!  Task Force One command override Seven-Two-Alpha, voice authorization: Virtus-Freedom-Star-Omega-One-Three!"  "Re-validate previous directive!" he bellowed to overcome the conversational occlusion buffers of the Shannon-facsimile.  "Access level two information nodes!  Task Force One command override Seven-Two-Alpha, voice authorization: Virtus-Freedom-Star-Omega-One-Three!" 
  
-"Communications network access confirmed," the monotone voice of Shannon Harris replied.  What occurred next was a curious set of verbal acknowledgements interspersed with the warbles and trills of a computer processing a complex series of algorithms.  "Task Force One command access recognized... Uplink to Starfleet mainframe established...  Code green detected...  Interdiction Order one-two-two-four override engaged...  Transferring command functions to contingency protocol NX-one-two-point-one-one.  Commencing emergency command holo-program upload..."+"Communications network access confirmed," the monotone voice of Shannon Harris replied.  What occurred next was a curious set of verbal acknowledgements interspersed with the warbles and trills of a computer processing a complex series of algorithms.  "Task Force One command access recognized... Uplink to Starfleet mainframe established...  Code green detected...  Interdiction Order one-two-two-four override engaged...  Transferring command functions to contingency protocol NX-one-two-point-one-one-beta.  Commencing emergency command holo-program upload..."
  
 Without warning, the holographic image of Shannon Harris ceased it's verbose techno-babble and vanished in a wisp of photonic energy.  A moment of shock and confusion befell the group of engineers.  Before they were able to comprehend what had just happened, another hologram had vanished, that of Vladamir Kostya.  Following that, the three engineers sprang into a flurry of remediation activities. Without warning, the holographic image of Shannon Harris ceased it's verbose techno-babble and vanished in a wisp of photonic energy.  A moment of shock and confusion befell the group of engineers.  Before they were able to comprehend what had just happened, another hologram had vanished, that of Vladamir Kostya.  Following that, the three engineers sprang into a flurry of remediation activities.
current_story/whispers_in_the_void_part_1.1694978788.txt.gz · Last modified: by cromwell

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