Bridge Training: Cardassian Conspiracy (Part III)

Posted on Sat Feb 3rd, 2024 @ 7:13am by Cadet Senior Grade Meghan Stefani & Cadet Senior Grade Daniel Weaver & Cadet Junior Grade Tarah Zhanorazon & Cadet Junior Grade Shafin Todenhöfer
Edited on on Sat Feb 3rd, 2024 @ 7:31am

1,424 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: The Cadet Cruise

[PREVIOUSLY]

Gul Tusar seemed displeased, looking off to the side, at someone not on screen. He leaned back in his chair and let out a bit of a sigh, a smirk on his face, as he gestured to a nearby Cardassian officer. "We would be happy to send you that information, Captain. However, it may take some time to get an authorization from our government to release that information to you. Perhaps, you can help me understand why the Federation is so willing to protect Bajoran terrorists. Wouldn't it be wiser for you to surrender them to us in the hopes of fostering peace between our two governments?"

[CONTINUED]

Daniel let out a fake chuckle, crossing his arms over his chest, as he smiled a bit and looked around the bridge. "There's a saying, perhaps you've heard of it. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. To you they may be terrorists, but to them they may be just fighting for their freedom. Starfleet doesn't make it a habit to decide which is which unless we see evidence to prove the former or the latter." He looked over to Shafin and the others before turning back to the main viewscreen. "Gul Tusar, if you require time to reach your government and get authorization then take your time. That ship isn't going anywhere, and so, neither are we." He smiled back.

The Gul narrowed his eyes and sat there silently before gesturing to someone as the channel was cut.

"Well done, Captain" Shafin said with a nod of approval. There may have been a few things that he himself would have worded differently, but overall, he was accepting of Daniel's performance under pressure. "If I may make a suggestion? I would recommend trying to pull a manifest for our ship in distress. We can run names through the Federation and Bajoran databases. It may give us some insight on any alleged criminal activity" stated Shafin.

"We aren't out of the woods yet, Shafin. I was just looking on buying us some time and there is no telling how much time we have. So, best to make the most of it." Daniel replied, looking over to his assigned First Officer, before nodding his head. "I agree. We should double check those names."

Emma kept a close eye on the Cardassian ship. She had a suspicion that they would try something, with or without authorisation from the Cardassian government. The Cardassians had the tactical advantage, the only thing stopping them from opening fire on the Cavalier was the political situation.

"Emma..." Daniel said as he looked over to the Cadet on Tactical. "You're our Security and Tactical Officer. Get the manifest names from Meghan and see if anyone on that Bajoran ship is a criminal. So we can match it with any information the Cardassian's send us in case they think they can lie their way through this."

While she waited for the probe, Meghan sent the crew roster to Emma.

Shafin looked at Daniel. "If I can be of any assistance, let me know. If not, perhaps I could review Cardassian law or find something to add more red tape, stall them further?"

Daniel nodded his head. "Cardassian law seems a bit one sided, but if you can find something we can use, Shafin, then it's better than nothing."

"It is illogically one sided and emotional, but as is often the case there are likely laws preceding current ones. Newer laws don't always have the finesse of its forebears. If there are loopholes or inconsistencies, I will find them."

He looked over to Shafin and nodded his head. Shafin, while full of himself in that Vulcan sort of way, would be very thorough. If there was a loophole or inconsistency that could buy more time or give the Cardassian some kind of hinderance, the First Officer would be sure to find it. Daniel soon nodded his head and smiled. "Go ahead, Shafin. Hopefully, with your review of their laws and Meghan's probe data, we can get some plan working." He turned away before stopping again. There was a brief hesitation in his movement until he turned to face Shafin again. While giving him a smile he said. "Good idea, Number One." As he gave him another nod and headed to the Captain's seat.

"As to be expected," replied Shafin though what had not been expected was the praise he received from Daniel. It gave Shafin pause. Just for a moment he considered what Daniel had said and his own response. "Thank you," added the counselling student. Nevertheless, he had to be himself. "I have been known to have those."

Tarah plotted several coordinates into helm, "That ship may be a beast, but it is a slow and clumsy one. Any sign of trouble and I can sprint us to just below their belly. Any other ships coming in would lose certain attack angles and unless they were willing to risk this Galor, won't be firing torpedoes. They are also so slow that any move they make we can counter. So, Captain, should I prepare the maneuver?" looking back at Daniel.

As Daniel sat down, taking a minute to adjust in the seat itself. he eventually looked over to Tarah at the Helm. "Umm.. Yes. Prepare it, but don't execute unless ordered. We don't want them to claim they retaliated on us because they felt us moving was a threat. Let's keep that idea in the back burner for now. If we can get out of this without firing a shot then we might earn some brownie points." He shrugged slightly before giving the Andorian pilot a smirk. "I mean, a Bajoran Captain NOT looking for an excuse to shoot a Cardassian ship. It's got to impress one of the people grading this exercise, right?"

"It impresses me" Shafin said having taken position at a station. "Not an easy task, but I am grateful that you are starting to think beyond and have elevated your decision making" added Shafin, now seeing that Daniel was no longer just having fun, and had started to show signs of being a 'chess player' where thinking ahead was absolutely necessary

Meghan was finally able to get a fuzzy image of the ship in the nebula. She quickly scanned it to get as much data as she could before the probe failed. "Captain Weaver, I have some images of the ship in the nebula."
While she waited for the scans, she also pulled up the last-known crew manifest of the Bajoran ship for comparison.

Tarah chuckled under her breath "Aye Aye, Captain, though I wasn't thinking of fighting the thing, just using it as a shield and being an annoying mosquito that won't buzz off.", the Andorian began plotting the algorithm into the console. Waiting for the Captain's orders.

"I know you weren't and I didn't accuse you of it, either, Tarah. I said 'We don't want them to claim they retaliated on us because they felt us moving was a threat.' You and I both know you repositioning the ship is just strategic. They don't and they aren't exactly known for telling others the truth about a situation especially if it makes them look bad. But all it takes, Tarah, is that Gul seeing us move and assume we were preparing an attack and he already has justification to fire on us. Doesn't matter why it was done or whether it’s to protect us. To Starfleet, we could be seen as instigating an attack. To Starfleet, whether we felt justified or not, we still made the first move." Daniel took a second to looked around, before focusing on Tarah again. "We have to either let them make it or have solid proof they were preparing to attack and, according to our Tactical Officer, they haven't locked on us. They have their shields up and weapons hot but not focused on us. You follow? You're not in the wrong... we just have to make sure we have full justification to engage. If that means taking a hit or two then so be it. As long as they have no room to come up with a story that puts us in the wrong even if it’s nowhere near true."

(To be continued...)

Senior Cadet Daniel Weaver
Acting CO

Junior Cadet Shafin Todenhöfer
Acting XO

Senior Cadet Meghan Stefani
Acting Chief Science Officer

Cadet Junior Grade Tarah Zhanorazon
Acting Chief Flight Control Officer

Gul Tusar
NPC by Daniel Weaver

 

RSS Feed