SIM:Darwin-A Sims/Some Things Should Stay Buried
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((Captain's Ready Room, Deck 1))
::Greir stroke across the bridge and entered the ready room which he quickly crossed. His rear had barely hit the seat before his finger jabbed at the console controls to bring up the station. The ops officer had indicated it was important so he didn't intend to keep the station waiting a second longer than he had to. It was Captain Hallam who greeted him on the view screen. The brown haired, blue-eyed starbase commander had a hint of a smile on his face. He oozed confidence, his square jaw and close-cropped hair giving him the air of a soldier and the Laudean commander to whom he was speaking a visual representation of the largest part of his career.::
::Greir hadn't seen a lot of the Captain after he'd taken Command of the Station temporarily when the man had been incapacitated. While he'd been back in his proper place commanding the station for a while, it still felt good to be able to talk to him at last and see him at work even if the circumstances weren't ideal. In his experience they generally never were.::
Reinard: =/\= Good day Captain, I hear you have an urgent situation you need to talk to me about... =/\=
Hallam: =/\= I swear, one of these days I'll be able to go a day only giving good news. We have a situation, Commander. An Antares-class freighter just left the station without permission. Someone aboard overrode the docking clamp mechanism shortly after we ordered a full inspection of their ship. =/\=
::That was never a good sign and Greir thought it a safe bet that the crew had something aboard they didn't want found. The only question was what and he wondered whether the Captain had an idea about just what it might be.::
Reinard: =/\= Do you have any idea what they might be hiding? =/\=
::Hallam tensed his jaw for a moment, muscles just below his ears flaring before he took in a deep breath.::
Hallam: =/\= Weapons, Commander. When the inspection was ordered, they clearly realised they were in violation of Federation law and decided that discretion was the better part of valour. As the only Starfleet asset currently available, I need you to track that ship down. Needless to say I'm concerned about where those weapons may be headed. =/\=
::The captain laced his fingers together and leaned his elbows on his desk. He was confident that the Darwin's Laudean captain would be able to handle the situation.::
::Right now all Greir had was the Captain's word that the ship was carrying weapons. He completely trusted the Captain of course, but what if he was wrong and it was slaves, drugs, stolen goods or something else illegal? In some ways it didn't matter but chasing down art thieves probably carried a little less risk than arms dealers. He just wanted to have whatever facts were available in front of him. Whatever they were carrying Greir wanted to find them fast and put a stop to it. He too was concerned about their motivations and where they were headed.::
Reinard: =/\= What makes you sure it's weapons rather than something else illegal? =/\=
::Hallam nodded in acknowledgement of the question, blowing out a slow, deep breath.::
Hallam: =/\= We routinely run security scans to verify the inventories of any civilian ships that dock with us. We detected weapons signatures aboard. The crew had taken measures to try to shield their cargo with some kind of dampening field but our records picked up a malfunction in one of their power generator units. That's how we were able to find out what was aboard.=/\=
::That seemed reasonable enough. He just had a few more questions he hoped to get answers to and then he fully intended to get out there as quickly as possible and stop these people. He wanted to know how much of a head start these people had on him.::
Reinard: =/\= Alright. When did they leave? =/\=
Hallam: =/\= By now they have about a fifteen minute head start. You should still be able to chase them down. =/\=
::Greir knew the station sensors would be able to track their flight path after they left up to a certain distance. It was possible they would know this and attempt to fly a deceptive path heading in a different direction to the one they would ultimately be going. However if they could pick up the warp signature the vessel left behind they would have a pretty decent trail to follow.::
Reinard: =/\= I assume you tracked their movements when they broke away, so if you could transfer to me any logs which might help my officers figure out where to begin the search it'd be gratefully received. =/\=
::With just a momentary glance to one side of the screen, Christian tapped at a couple of controls on the console alongside him.::
Hallam: =/\= That's everything we have, including the scans we ran, the ship's transponder signal and what we have for their last known course. Their maximum speed is warp 7, so they're a lot slower than you. =/\=
::That was some pretty solid information the Captain was offering up there and they would make good use of it in tracking down these arms smuggling criminals.::
Reinard: =/\= That's great. Do you have anything on the crew? =/\=
Hallam: =/\= Nothing. I had my second officer look over the crew manifest they submitted and it reads like a storybook. There's nothing there of use, unless you're looking for something to rest your coffee on. =/\=
::Greir barely managed to suppress a chuckle and smiled in amusement at the comment. It was a shame there wasn't any more information to go on but they'd find out more soon enough.::
Reinard: =/\= Right then, unless there's anything else I need to know I best be off then. =/\=
::Hallam straightened his uniform. The commander had already proved to him that he was more than competent; he had taken command of Deep Space Six during an attempted Zalkonian hijacking thanks to the capture of the station's senior staff. He knew he was leaving the case in safe hands.::
Hallam: =/\= Agreed. I'm giving you full discretion here, Commander. Find out everything you can and bring those smugglers to justice. I look forward to seeing you back at the station when you're done. =/\=
Reinard: =/\= Thank you sir. I won't let you down! =/\=
::Chris raised both eyebrows and nodded slowly and confidently.::
Hallam: =/\= I know you won't, Commander. Good hunting. Hallam out. =/\=
::Greir was keen to get onto the bridge and relay the information to his team, get them out there. The longer it took them to get underway the further away the freighter could get. The information he had at his disposal indicated they had a top speed of warp 7, so as the faster ship the Darwin shouldn't have too much difficulty in catching them once they caught the right trail. First though he was going to need one of Edwards men., so he double tapped his comm badge.::
Reinard: =/\= Commander Reinard to Commander Edwards. =/\=
Edwards: =/\= Response =/\=
Reinard: =/\= Deep Space 6 have informed us of a freighter that has broken away from the station and is suspected to be carrying weapons. I need one of your team to come to the bridge to assist us in the search. =/\=
::Since Edwards was the department head he thought it appropriate to allow him to decide who was going to man the bridge. ::
Edwards: =/\= Response =/\=
((Bridge, Deck 1))
::Greir headed onto the bridge and began issuing orders even before he got to his seat.::
Reinard: Miss Falcon, please acquire undocking permission and get us undocked and turned about.
Falcon: Aye, sir.
::While she did that Greir held off just long enough for the officer he was waiting on to arrive. He preferred to make sure everyone was on the same page by telling them all what their mission was together. It also cut down the number of times he had to repeat himself which was a welcome bonus. He liked the sound of his own voice well enough but repetition was tiresome.::
Reinard: Miss James, if you check your ops console I have transferred to you the known flight path of an Antares Class freighter. If you could put that up on the viewer for us please.
Nessa: Response
Reinard: We need to find this freighter. Falcon and James, the two of you need to coordinate and form a search pattern. The ship is capable of travelling at a maximum of warp 7 and left the station just over 15 minutes ago, so we should still be able to catch them.
Nessa: Response
Thomas: Any idea what we are chasing?
::With the helm and ops crew already coordinating and getting the ship underway he felt it was time to share the rest of the information he had.::
Reinard: The ship left without clearance, overriding station docking clamps after station security ordered an inspection having identified weapons signatures aboard. Our objective is to find the ship, impound it and bring it back to the station.
Brice: Its a fairly straightforward mission... although I'm curious to know why they docked in the first place. They had to have known they would have been inspected.
Thomas: I agree. I'll be curious to see what the Captain says when we finally catch up to him.
Reinard: We also have the scans security took of the ship. Brice, Orrey take a look at the scans and see what you can tell me about the freighter and the weapons signature they picked up.
Brice: Aye, Sir.
Orrey: Aye Sir.
::Greir had even more information up his sleeve. He really loved being well informed. The transponder signal was going to be essential. Once they managed to follow a warp trail and get in sensor range of a ship that was the thing that was going to identify the ship as the one they were looking for.::
Loren: Captain, I've narrowed down the area of space where the freighter could have gone using the last sensor data from Deep Space 6 and its last known heading. According to logged flight plans, she's not the only Antares class in that area.
Reinard: We have the freighters transponder signal, which we can use to make appositive identification later on. Go ahead and scan for warp signatures in the area and see if you can pick up the trail.
::Greir looked around the bridge to see his officers getting to grips with their assigned tasks before returning his attention to the view screen. It showed a map of the immediate area and the path the freighter had taken before dropping off sensors. At least they had some idea about where to start.::
Commander Greir Reinard Commanding Officer USS Darwin-A
Cadet Steward: UFOP: SB118 Academy
And
PNPC Captain Christian Hallam Commanding Officer Deep Space Six
SIMmed by: Fleet Captain Diego Herrera