Shift in Responsibilities
Posted on Wed Feb 20th, 2019 @ 6:50pm by Captain Luka Mahone & Lieutenant Theodore Winslow & Lieutenant JG Shurlok
1,422 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Deep Freeze
Location: CO's Office, Command Center, Floor 7
Timeline: MD -10 - 1320 Hrs
Luka paced about the Captain’s - no, his - office, hands shaking. After his meeting with Commodore Minawara, the young Commander had kept himself isolated in the confines of the Io’s remains, but that was hours ago. He paused mid-pacings, realization that there was more at stake than a sudden promotion of responsibilities. He tapped his badge. “Lieutenant Shurlok… Lieutenant Winslow, could you both report to the Io’s... Captain’s office please?”
Shurlok was there a scant few minutes later, but hadn’t had time to change out of his coveralls, and he was still remarkably filthy, though his odour was relatively unoffensive.
Theo silently turned up with an air of confusion as he noticed Luka pacing. “Sir?” He wondered as he stood there wondering what this was all about when they were all so busy.
“We need to talk.” Luka gestured toward the remains of what Captain Matthews had set up as a miniature group meeting area; a few ornate chairs settled around an old, wooden table. He waited for the pair to sit before doing the exact opposite, continuing to pace behind the chairs opposite of where they sat.
Shurlok sat carefully on one of the seats, careful not to make contact with any of the filthy surfaces his upper body was covered with.
Theo sat down silently and looked at the man willing him to not say what he thought was going to be coming next.
“So.” There came a pause. Then he continued, in a hesitance unlike even him. “I just finished speaking with Commodore Minawara. He's been fairly understanding on the situation in regards to the Io. But he's also brought up some rather key points. For example, Haumea is going to be in need of Starfleet personnel. The Io's recent incident has only enforced the Brass's desire to push forward with having a presence on the colony itself. A Commanding Officer has been named, but I was hoping that you two wouldn't mind a transfer to the colony itself.”
Shurlok looked at Winslow for a moment, then back to Mahone. “I have no objections, sir.” It wasn’t a Tactical assignment, so it ticked the only box he had to consider.
Theo sighed just a little and nodded. He knew this was coming but it didn’t make any difference with how annoyed he felt over it but maybe it would his chance to settle down.
“Good. Thank you for confirming that.” In his haste, Luka had already made arrangements to have the pair transferred, but what this would definitely save the trouble of him scrambling after his yeoman on the matter. “But that’s not the only reason I brought you here. We have much to go over, but most important is the ongoing investigation with the Io. I had left it for the most part, until now, but we cannot go on too long without any answers. That being said, have either of you managed to get a team out to the wreckage?”
Theo shook his head. He had wanted to leave sooner but he didn’t want to rush things and miss something. “The team is planning to leave in the morning.” He admitted wishing he had brought a PADD to be able to show him the route they were taking.
“I apologise sir, but we remain behind schedule on almost every front. Much of the equipment we were able to salvage requires repairs.” Shurlok said, dissatisfied with the result, but knowing it was the best they could achieve with their limited numbers.
Luka gave it some thought. The pair practically had free reign of the wreckage that had not been salvaged, but he wasn't certain whether he had stated that or not. “Lieutenant Winslow, I would like to accompany this team, see what I can do to help. Is there any equipment you may need of me?”
“No Sir.” The man said simply thinking that it would be impossible for the man to be anything but an observer in this salvage operation.
Frowning, Luka turned to the Vulcan engineer. “Lieutenant Shurlok, there is no set time table coming from me on these matters. The Io is not going anywhere. Please, take all the time you need.”
"It seems that we must, sir." Shurlok responded.
“... I hate to admit to this,” Luka continued, stroking his chin, “But we may have to look at all the possibilities. Those explosives didn't just appear there out of nowhere.”
“Well, it wouldn’t have … Sir.” The Security Chief said bitterly. He had been carrying a sense of guilt since the incident that didn’t rest well with his moral compass at all. The equipment to create such explosives had to have been created one piece at a time or he would have noticed.
Luka’s gaze turned to Theo. They had not had much time to speak since the incident, so this was as good a time as any. “You’ll have to be more specific, Lieutenant. My experience with explosives only extends to the Command training modules on the topic, which are vague at best.”
"You can't just bring a bomb, onboard Sir," Theo said trying to not sound annoyed but he was sure the stress of the last few days was showing all over his face. "The security system wouldn't allow things to go undetected. Whoever this person is they've been really sly about how it's been built."
"Ah." Luka went silent. The longer this went on, the more solid his suspicion seemed to be. He looked between the two gathered staff, expression grim. "Until we get solid information to give to the public, the talk we're having here does not leave this room."
"Is there an official story we are to provide in the meanwhile, sir? My staff have proven curious. So far I have explained that it is still being investigated by Command, but I fear the more inquisitive and suspicious among them may start to come up with their own theories. At the very least, some may wonder why they have not been consulted in their areas of specialty." Shurlok explained.
"For the moment, that we intend to complete this investigation as quick as possible so that we all have answers. There isn't much more to say than that." His eyes lit up, and he gave them both a cheerful smile. "Let's look optimistically. Once we're finished with the investigation and getting everything up and running, I'm sure we'll be fine. Are there any questions you two have for me?"
"Perhaps I should collect incident reports on the events leading up to evacuation pre-emptively to see off any complications of curiousity?" Shurlok asked, thinking out loud.
Theo raised an eyebrow not sure that was in the man remit as investigations were done by security but he glanced at his new Commanding Officer for instruction on it.
The Commander looked between the two, before settling his gaze onto Shurlok. "That sounds like an excellent idea. It should be easier for Lieutenant Winslow to track down details of the Engineering explosion that way. We could also do the same for the Medical staff - I'll take care of that." He turned to Theo. "We'll just give you what we've got and you can interview whomever you need from there."
Theodore did nothing but nod to the Engineer and Captain. He was a man of few words and didn't need to say anything but agree with the plan for figuring out what had happened.
"I will begin with the staff that made it out of Main Engineering." Shurlok said, picturing Crewman Grish.
"Good." Uncharacteristically impatient, Luka clapped his hands together to signal his own end to the meeting. "I'll reconvene with the both of you tomorrow in separate, but for now... I think we should all take a rest. We've all been working hard, and I don't think that work is going to stop tomorrow morning for any reason."
The Security Chief didn't think he would rest until he found out exactly what had happened. He wanted to know for his peace of mind very quickly, and the persons needed to be brought to justice.
"If there are answers sir, we will find them. One hopes that the rest of the crew will not." Shurlok said with a reserved confidence.
Luka simply closed his eyes. They certainly had their work cut out for them."We will," he resolved. "I'm certain of it."
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