The Bad News

Posted on Tue Mar 28th, 2023 @ 5:58pm by Lieutenant Colonel Shaun Bradley

770 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Pressure
Location: Captain's Ready Room

Somewhere there was a ticking in the office of something settling and Shaun was focusing on it. A cooling vent maybe? Or perhaps a beam that was not quite where it needed to be? Regardless, for the last minute it had produced an occasional ticking from below that the Colonel had been keeping his attention on. It was an old Terracian medatation technique to cut out the surrounding chatter of people's loud thoughts. And there were a lot of loud thoughts right now as rumours were already starting to spread. Very soon the Colonel would have to address to the Starfleet Staff and start to get an idea of what had happened to the Captain. There would be a dozen questions each, he was sure, but before then he needed to make sure all the boxes were checked.

He'd already alerted Camp Falkirk. They knew he would be away from his usual lines of communication as he dealt with the situation. Now he needed to get the Fleet on board and see what they wanted to do. That was what lead him really to take a moment and breathe. "Computer, secure communication channel with Rear Admiral Minawara, Bradley-Two-Six-Niner-Bravo." There was a moment, a beep, and a wait as subspace systems worked to fire and connect. Another moment and the system chirped again, replicating a holographic representation of Task Force Seventy-Two's Commanding Officer.

"Lieutenant Colonel Bradley, this is a surprise," came the remark from the man, who was standing, studying his opposite's face. Shaun and the Admiral had crossed paths before, his family was close to the Klans' Family, and such they had previously engaged. He'd actually visited him in the hospital when he was undergoing cybernetic surgery, got a chance to see a then Lieutenant look the worst he'd ever.

"Thank you for taking my call Admiral," Shaun said, stiffening and addressing his superior. There was a time and a place for familiarity, but he wanted to make sure this wasn't one of those moments. When Yoshi nodded, he pushed on. "At Oh-Seven-Thirty this morning Ensign Davna alerted me that the team was unable to find Captain Mahone. His office and personal residence were left in an absolute state of disarray. At this time he is listed as Missing-In-Action. I have assumed command of Haumea Colony's Starfleet Personnel, awaiting replacement by a senior Starfleet Officer. Sir."

Yoshi looked taken aback, one of the few times Shaun had ever seen the man put off visibly - the shock had to be real. Yoshi looked to the ground, and waved his hand, silencing the communication while speaking to something unseen. He waited, said something else, and turned to pick a PaDD off his desk and read it. With a face of his hand, the microphones began transmitting audio again as he shook his head. "Negative Colonel, we do not have assets freely available to relieve you. For the time being you will continue as the Acting Commanding Officer for the Colony. Under Starfleet Joint Command Policy Three-One-Eight, Section Six, I authorize you as a Marine to take command of Starfleet personnel." He placed the PaDD down, his face back to the regular unreadable stance he so often wore when being professional. "The USS Alloutte is not far completing a stellar survey. Normally I could pull them away but we are ensuring the star is stable for the pre-warp species near by. As soon as they have completed their assignment they will head to Haumea, at an expected three days."

It was Shaun's turn to look taken aback, as he processed the use of a policy that had been ostensibly on the books since the MACO days. It was very rare for Marines to take command of Starfleet operations without "shedding the colours" as it were. He thought it over, and even debated fighting it for one of the two Lieutenant Commanders on station. Instead he decided if the Admiral was leaving him in command it was better to not push the issue. There was a good chance that Yoshi was going to have to push for a far more serious response, and send his own reports to have things dealt with. Who knew, maybe that would lead to a quicker response from the Fleet as a whole. "I understand Admiral, any other orders?"

"No Colonel, good luck." The channel went dead, and left the Marine to take a seat at the desk, waiting a moment as he thought over what was happening. With that out of the way, it was time to get the rest of the team on board.

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