Unity – The Cardassian Question
by Commander Karen Villiers & Commander Richard Dunham
Post Details
Setting aside the Romulan questions assassination, extradition and prosecution, Karen turned to the Cardassian ones. She smiled to herself, when she categorised in this way the Romulan and the Cardassian questions so often turned out to be identical.
In this instance the Cardassian question was Lieutenant Dunham - it was one thing keeping Gabriel locked up to prevent the Romulans from seizing an opportunity to abduct him but quite another keeping Dunham incarcerated because some Gul with an overblown sense of his own worth had got his toes trodden on.
First call was the brig.
"Lieutenant Dunham," Karen said by way of introduction.
Dunham had been pondering the finer points of his situation. He had tried meditating to calm himself down, but as much as he tried he was unable to clear his mind. The longer he spent in the cell the more trapped he felt.
When he heard the female voice he sat up in his cot. Upon seeing the commander and the three gold circles on her rank insignia he got up. Though he had never met the new XO he had heard of her arrival on the station. "Ma'am" he said with a respectful nod. "How can I help you?"
"You can start by telling me in your own words why you are here," she said as she disabled the forcefield - he was hardly likely to make a run for it - then she brought a chair from the side of the room and sat down.
Dunham took a seat on the bed opposite the commander. He messaged his forehead with the balls of his fingers. He had been getting a horrible headache, in the last couple of hours. Dunham had been over the incident a thousand times in his head, wandering if the their had been anyway he could of done anything else. "Bravo wing were on deep recognisance patrol. Everything was going fine, until we found an Old Cardassian freighter hidden in the upper atmosphere of a gas giant. As soon as we approached it powered up its engines and went to warp. It was making a 'B' line straight for Deep Space Five. Bravo wing persued. The vessel did not respond to any hails. Our sensors were being scrambled by the ship. So we couldn't pick up any life signs. As it approached the station, Op's tried to beam anybody off it. But could get no signal locks. So by the book. We gave a warning shot across her bow. The freighter did not respond. So after another set of communication hails to the ship, and another round of warning shots. I opened fire on the vessel. If I hadn't it would of collided with the station. But the thing was so old, that its hull buckled after one hit to her engines. She blew up." Dunham sighed and took a breath.
"Commander Davies put me in here for 'my own protection'. As the Cardassian embassy were threatening to extradite me for murder and destructions of Cardassian property. Even though I had done everything by starfleet regulations."
The skin on the back of her neck prickled; his description was straightforward but the situation was one that seemed to be designed as a trap, to force the action that Dunham had taken in order to cause an incident.
"Do you have any former history with the Cardassians?" Karen asked. Everyone who had been in Starfleet for a certain length of time had a history with the Cardassians, but she wanted to find out if Dunham was a specific target for trouble or if it could be anyone sitting where he was now just for following procedure.
Dunham scratched the stubble on his chin in thought, then shook his head. "No Ma'am. Deep Space Five is only my third posting, since graduation and I never fought in no war. It was before my time."
Karen leaned forward resting her elbows on her parted knees, her fingers linked loosely together, "When the analysis of the debris comes back from the lab its going to show that there was no one on board that ship, that the vessel was decrepit and probably operated by remote control. The method has been used before - there was a similar incident near the DMZ, then it was a Federation colony involved - it gave the Cardassians an excuse to step up their military presence in the area," what she did not understand was who stood to gain this time; not the Cardassians that was for sure.
"I hope you're right commander. I really do. If there were innocent people on that ship.....If it was just out of control. I don't know what I will do." That last words were only a whisper as Dunham sank his face in his hands, it was clear that the incident was getting to him. "You gotta get me out here Ma'am. I'm going stir crazy, and I need to know that I did the right thing."
"If there were, Lieutenant, you are safe in the knowledge that you saved the lives of everyone on this station, had you not taken the action you did you would have risked both the station and the ship." She noticed his distress but did not comment on it, "I'll release you," she said, "I don't foresee any real threat from the Cardassian embassy - blustering outrage is a typical reaction under the circumstances; just steer clear of any Cardassians until things calm down."
Dunham looked up from his hands and tried to give a smile. "Thank you Ma'am. I really appreciate that"
"And Dunham, make an appointment with the counselor."
He nodded. "Yes Ma'am. Thank you for your help. I'm sorry that our first meeting had to be under such circumstances. If their is anything I can do to help. please let me know?"
A thin smile spread across Karen's face, "You must be familiar with the CAG, Rianni Monteros," she said, Karen had read into her background and considered her a risk, particularly with the message about the rumoured demise of her aunt, "Is she sound?"
Dunham raised both eyebrows at the surprise question. "Very sound Ma'am. She is a great officer, an excellent front line leader, and the best pilot on the station. I know she has some personal problems at the moment but nothing that will effect her in her duty."
Karen nodded as she weighed that response, it told her more about Dunham than Monteros, "Off you go then," she said
Dunham brought himself up into a smart stance, both hands clasped behind his back he gave another respectfull and thankfull nod. "Thank you Ma'am". He then headed out of his cell. Breathed in a deep breath of free air. Then headed out of security.
Off
Lt Richard Dunham
Squadron Leader
Commander Karen Villiers
Executive Officer
by Commander Karen Villiers & Commander Richard Dunham
Post Details
| Title | The Cardassian Question | |
| Mission | Unity | |
| Author(s) | Commander Karen Villiers & Commander Richard Dunham | |
| Posted | Sat Dec 05, 2009 @ 11:20am | |
| Location | Brig | |
| Timeline | SD16 16:30 |
In this instance the Cardassian question was Lieutenant Dunham - it was one thing keeping Gabriel locked up to prevent the Romulans from seizing an opportunity to abduct him but quite another keeping Dunham incarcerated because some Gul with an overblown sense of his own worth had got his toes trodden on.
First call was the brig.
"Lieutenant Dunham," Karen said by way of introduction.
Dunham had been pondering the finer points of his situation. He had tried meditating to calm himself down, but as much as he tried he was unable to clear his mind. The longer he spent in the cell the more trapped he felt.
When he heard the female voice he sat up in his cot. Upon seeing the commander and the three gold circles on her rank insignia he got up. Though he had never met the new XO he had heard of her arrival on the station. "Ma'am" he said with a respectful nod. "How can I help you?"
"You can start by telling me in your own words why you are here," she said as she disabled the forcefield - he was hardly likely to make a run for it - then she brought a chair from the side of the room and sat down.
Dunham took a seat on the bed opposite the commander. He messaged his forehead with the balls of his fingers. He had been getting a horrible headache, in the last couple of hours. Dunham had been over the incident a thousand times in his head, wandering if the their had been anyway he could of done anything else. "Bravo wing were on deep recognisance patrol. Everything was going fine, until we found an Old Cardassian freighter hidden in the upper atmosphere of a gas giant. As soon as we approached it powered up its engines and went to warp. It was making a 'B' line straight for Deep Space Five. Bravo wing persued. The vessel did not respond to any hails. Our sensors were being scrambled by the ship. So we couldn't pick up any life signs. As it approached the station, Op's tried to beam anybody off it. But could get no signal locks. So by the book. We gave a warning shot across her bow. The freighter did not respond. So after another set of communication hails to the ship, and another round of warning shots. I opened fire on the vessel. If I hadn't it would of collided with the station. But the thing was so old, that its hull buckled after one hit to her engines. She blew up." Dunham sighed and took a breath.
"Commander Davies put me in here for 'my own protection'. As the Cardassian embassy were threatening to extradite me for murder and destructions of Cardassian property. Even though I had done everything by starfleet regulations."
The skin on the back of her neck prickled; his description was straightforward but the situation was one that seemed to be designed as a trap, to force the action that Dunham had taken in order to cause an incident.
"Do you have any former history with the Cardassians?" Karen asked. Everyone who had been in Starfleet for a certain length of time had a history with the Cardassians, but she wanted to find out if Dunham was a specific target for trouble or if it could be anyone sitting where he was now just for following procedure.
Dunham scratched the stubble on his chin in thought, then shook his head. "No Ma'am. Deep Space Five is only my third posting, since graduation and I never fought in no war. It was before my time."
Karen leaned forward resting her elbows on her parted knees, her fingers linked loosely together, "When the analysis of the debris comes back from the lab its going to show that there was no one on board that ship, that the vessel was decrepit and probably operated by remote control. The method has been used before - there was a similar incident near the DMZ, then it was a Federation colony involved - it gave the Cardassians an excuse to step up their military presence in the area," what she did not understand was who stood to gain this time; not the Cardassians that was for sure.
"I hope you're right commander. I really do. If there were innocent people on that ship.....If it was just out of control. I don't know what I will do." That last words were only a whisper as Dunham sank his face in his hands, it was clear that the incident was getting to him. "You gotta get me out here Ma'am. I'm going stir crazy, and I need to know that I did the right thing."
"If there were, Lieutenant, you are safe in the knowledge that you saved the lives of everyone on this station, had you not taken the action you did you would have risked both the station and the ship." She noticed his distress but did not comment on it, "I'll release you," she said, "I don't foresee any real threat from the Cardassian embassy - blustering outrage is a typical reaction under the circumstances; just steer clear of any Cardassians until things calm down."
Dunham looked up from his hands and tried to give a smile. "Thank you Ma'am. I really appreciate that"
"And Dunham, make an appointment with the counselor."
He nodded. "Yes Ma'am. Thank you for your help. I'm sorry that our first meeting had to be under such circumstances. If their is anything I can do to help. please let me know?"
A thin smile spread across Karen's face, "You must be familiar with the CAG, Rianni Monteros," she said, Karen had read into her background and considered her a risk, particularly with the message about the rumoured demise of her aunt, "Is she sound?"
Dunham raised both eyebrows at the surprise question. "Very sound Ma'am. She is a great officer, an excellent front line leader, and the best pilot on the station. I know she has some personal problems at the moment but nothing that will effect her in her duty."
Karen nodded as she weighed that response, it told her more about Dunham than Monteros, "Off you go then," she said
Dunham brought himself up into a smart stance, both hands clasped behind his back he gave another respectfull and thankfull nod. "Thank you Ma'am". He then headed out of his cell. Breathed in a deep breath of free air. Then headed out of security.
Off
Lt Richard Dunham
Squadron Leader
Commander Karen Villiers
Executive Officer