The Admiral Finally Speaks

Posted on Fri Dec 11th, 2009 @ 5:24pm by Captain Benjamin Byrne & Lieutenant Commander Mark Anderson

Mission: Metronian Diplomacy
Location: Cestus III - Pegasus Fleet Headquarters
Timeline: MD01 1147hours

The two officers materialised in the middle of the blue matter stream, surrounded by the bustle of a busy Federation city. Cestus III had prospered in the years after the initial Gorn attack, and now had a number of thriving metropolises dotted across its surface. The most prominent in the last month or two was where they were now, in what had come to be known simply as Pegasus Fleet Headquarters. As the two took in their surroundings, they were approached by a Lieutenant in red, who had clearly been sent to greet them the moment they had been detected inbound to the system.

"Gentlemen, the Admiral is waiting for you," she said, offering a small bow before turning and leading them back the way they had come, into the shaded corridors of the Headquarters building, which almost shone in the midday sun, it's sloped frontal face making it seem almost as if it were lying back at a rough 30 degree angle. She led them through a procession of corridors, which were of sufficient length and lit more and more by artificial light that it was clear they were heading towards the centre of the structure. It wasn't long however, before they entered a turbolift and were promptly deposited in a corridor, staffed with armed Federation guards. The corridor was very short in one direction, and it was this way in which the Lieutenant led the two men, before passing through a large set of double doors emblazoned with the logo of the United Federation of planets.

The room in which they now stood was enormous compared to most room an officer serving on a Starship is likely to see regularly outside of the holodeck. Plushly furnished, the office of the Commanding Officer of the Eleventh Fleet was clearly one made to be comfortable. At this height, the sloped frontal face had come back enough so that they were once again dazzled by brilliant sunlight through the full-height glass windows - though Ben thought it looked more like a wall, personally.

"Admiral. Commander Byrne and Lieutenant Commander Anderson for you, from the Endeavour," the Lieutenant said, before taking her leave of the three of them.

"Gentlemen, please take a seat," the Spanish-American flag officer said, himself moving from the window where he had been gazing to sit on the sofa positioned opposite them. "I trust the trip over here wasn't too hectic for you?"

"A relatively straight shot, sir," Mark quipped as he took a seat. This was his first time meeting the Vice-Admiral and, as far as first impressions went, it seemed to be off to a good start. He gave a sideways glance in the direction of Commander Byrne before adding, "Lots of stop and go. It reminded me of a game I used to play as a kid...'Red Light, Green Light'."

Ben nodded in agreement with his first officer. "Frankly, it was more confusing than hectic. It isn't very often a ship fresh out of drydock gets ordered to push her warp engines to their limits without any specific orders."

"Yes, I understand your confusion Commander, but there is an awful lot of space between here and Earth where a transmission can be intercepted," the Admiral said. He didn't apologise for their rush to the colony though, and just ploughed on with the reason they were called to it. "Your orders aren't exactly dangerous to the Federation, but all the same, I'd rather not have our neighbours knowing where I am and what I'm doing all the time."

Ben exchanged a quick glance with Mark, before asking the Admiral, "where you are, Sir? What does that have to do with the Endeavour?"

Admiral Sanchez paused for a few moments, considering the two men in front of him. Ben had no idea what was going through the older man's mind as he regarded them - was he making a judgement on them? Waiting for any reaction to his short silence? The moment was gone before Ben had any chance to come up with any conclusion to his thoughts.

"Your orders, Commanders, are to take myself and a small staff to a colony within the Metron Consortium, for diplomatic talks," Sanchez finally said.

Despite his usual calm demeanour, Mark appeared surprised at the admiral's revelation of their mission. "The Metrons," he repeated somewhat disbelievingly, "I thought they weren't interested in the Federation."

"Apparently that's changed," the Admiral responded. "We received a communique from them the day before I issued your orders to come here. It was short and to the point; we are to go to a planet located at a specific set of coordinates at a date which is now..." he paused, as he checked chronometer for the date. "Just under three weeks from now. I believe the Endeavour can match this date from here without even going over warp 9."

Mark quirked an eyebrow. Brevity wasn't always a good thing and in this particular situation, the brevity of the Metrons' message was giving him cause for concern. What's more, Starfleet was sending a flag officer, the commanding officer of Pegasus Fleet, into an unknown situation. Usually, Mark was open to the unknown, stemming from his interest in exploration. However, there were too many unknowns in this situation for him not to say something.

"With all due respect, admiral, are you sure this is wise," the Endeavour's first officer inquired, "We know little about the Metrons aside from the fact that they abducted Captain Kirk and a Gorn captain. They returned the two captains to their vessels before declaring us unfit for contact. Now, all of a sudden, they want to talk?" Personally, Mark was interested in learning more about the Metrons and whatever it was that they wanted to talk to the Federation about, but it was his duty as a first officer to be concerned with ship and crew, namely those superior to him.

"The Metrons are a technologically superior race," Sanchez responded, "who have shown the ability and inclination to intervene in disputes between foreigners. It is for this reason that we don't want to politically offend them by ignoring their request. We have never seen a Metronian temper, and with the little we do know about them, we need to tread carefully."

"But why give it such attention?" Ben asked. "And why send the commander of a new fleet to meet them?"

"The reason I am going Commander," Sanchez said, turning his gaze upon Byrne, "is because the simple fact that the Metrons consider us to have progressed to the point where they are willing to talk with us has got the Federation Council's attention like a gang of Orion slave girls. They take it as a huge ego booster when we've had to struggle through the events we have in the last decade, and they want to show the Metrons every courtesy until we know what they want." He paused, presumably tallying up whether he had answered the question fully. He obviously felt he hadn't, so he continued. "The reason it is I specifically is because I hold the rank necessary to ensure that they can't feel insulted in any way, and because of this very place here; Cestus III. Cestus was the cause of the initial encounter with the Metrons, and the Federation Council feel that making a point of what we have accomplished here in the last century would help convince the Metrons we are not the brutes they felt we were. Having our fleet headquarters here also makes me the closest Vice Admiral not currently occupied on another mission."

"I still don't like it," Mark said, "but, at the same time, I am interested in hearing what they have to say." He let out a sigh and looked from his commanding officer to the admiral. "We'll just have to be cautious," he concluded.

"I want to get a few days R&R in for the crew," Ben said, looking towards Sanchez confidently. He knew that if he told the Admiral his plans in any other way, he'd be flattened by the senior man. "They've been on the ball for three weeks straight already, and that's without a large number of the senior staff aboard. If we push just over warp 9, we can afford the delay."

"I agree," Mark replied, recalling the information he had been reading in department reports. Besides, it wouldn't do them any good to be worn out and wound up when dealing with the Metrons. That usually resulted in unanticipated and unwanted occurrences.

"Granted," Sanchez grunted, clearly not pleased at having to delay now that the ship was there, but knowing the two commanders would know what was best for their ship and their crew. "We leave in three days, at twelve hundred hours." He stood, signifying that the briefing was over. "Dismissed gentlemen."

----------------
Vice Admiral Roman Sanchez (PNPC)
Pegasus Fleet Commanding Officer
Played by: Commander Byrne

Commander Benjamin J. Byrne
Commanding Officer
USS Endeavour NCC-86105

&

Lieutenant Commander Mark Anderson
Executive Officer
USS Endeavour NCC-86105