Interlude – Lies, Bribes and Bloodshed
by Lieutenant Vincent Tan
Post Details
ON:
With a small gesture, the Vulcan cut off his Bolian counterpart. "I think that is all that is relevant to this committee. I am sure that if we ever need to know more about the intricacies of engine coolant systems, we shall turn to you. As time is limited I would like to bring discussion once more to the state of affairs on Deep Space 5."
There was a small murmur and then silence. Everyone waited for someone else to speak. In the end, the Vulcan Admiral had to exert his authority and demand an answer. He turned to the African Admiral. "It has been some time since your "operative", as you call him, has been on DS5. Does he have anything to report?"
The big black man cleared his throat. It was a rarely that he was so nervous. "From my operative's reports, I gather that there is absolutely no base to the claims made by my esteemed colleague."
"Perhaps we are wasting our time there," the Vulcan admitted after a few moments deliberation. "Uhlan has gone there and returned and his report was inconclusive. It seems illogical now, to continue this investigation."
"No, no, no!" the Chinaman spook up vehemently. "I assure you, I have heard from extremely trusted sources that there are criminal activities occuring on Deep Space 5. Recent events on the station must surely make you all suspicious as well? Sabotaged shields, officers taken hostage? This all points to an inside man, either working for a foreign power or for pay."
"Granted," the Caitian admiral said, with a bite of impatience. "But you promised us a whole lot. Corruption, smuggling, piracy? Apart from this," he waved a piece of cargo manifest, "we've got nothing to suggest any of that. Not from you, not from Uhlan and not from any other sources."
"Ah," the Chinese admiral stroked his beard. "But surely these things can be interconnected? And the fellows we are dealing with are clever. Trained operatives or intelligent mercenaries. Not your standard Elasi riff-raff." His twinkled as he concluded his argument. "It all points to a greater conspiracy."
"A conspiracy to waste my bloody time!" the Australian admiral said, slamming his fist on the table.
"Whoa, calm down there fella. Are you okay?" the Bolian asked. He really had no idea about what the other men were talking about - it was entirely over his head really. Lies, bribes and bloodshed? Why couldn't his counterparts be interested in exciting things like anti-matter containment shield ratings and the superiority of plasma over liquid cooling systems.
"No I'm not bloody okay! I think I broke my hand," the Australian replied. Wincing he continued. "First he tells us that there's trouble on Deep Space 5 and then he goes and tells us that we've got serious problems near the Iconian system. Locl sentiments seem to be against us, especially with the whole Romulan show of force over there. And now, Confucius has gone ahead and changed his mind again, dreaming up some massive conspiracy over a tiny backwater like DS5! No one is interested in DS5. Not the Romulans, not the Klingons, not the Cardassians, not even the Borg were interested in it. And we're probably only there because we spent a whole heap of latinum building the darn thing!"
"That didn't stop you from suggesting we send the USS Leonidas over there," the Bolian pointed out.
"You're not helping," the Australian said under his breath. "And that was a temporary thing. I think we could bring it back now..."
"Right, sorry," his blue cheeks became slightly bluer.
The African grunted. He could understand his colleagues frustration. It seemed that their Chinese colleague was running circles around this small council, first pointing it one way and then the other. No one liked having their minds changed, but hated it more still if the person convincing them suddenly does a backflip. He thought at least he was solid. "Friend, focus on Deep Space 5. The Romulans are sneaky. If they were up to something it wouldn't include five shiny, big and new Warbirds on our doorstep. The crafty fellows would try to come in through just the backwater that DS5 is."
The Australian huffed but kept silent. The Caitian followed his lead. The Bolian stopped twirling his pen for a moment and then promptly resumed. The Chinaman only smirked.
"Enough of this," the Vulcan admiral said. "As I have already stated, we have very little time and much to discuss. You will order your relative "sources" to further investigate DS5 for another month. If no new evidence is presented to this council by that time, we will consider the matter closed and focus elsewhere."
There was sullen nod from each member of the council.
The Chinaman was the first to break the definitive silence. "If I may, I would now like to present my report on the steel output from the Tarod system..."
OFF
NPC Admirals
all played by Vana
by Lieutenant Vincent Tan
Post Details
| Title | Lies, Bribes and Bloodshed | |
| Mission | Interlude | |
| Author(s) | Lieutenant Vincent Tan | |
| Posted | Thu Jul 15, 2010 @ 2:56pm | |
| Location | Back Office, Starfleet HQ, Earth | |
| Timeline | SD 20, 2300h |
With a small gesture, the Vulcan cut off his Bolian counterpart. "I think that is all that is relevant to this committee. I am sure that if we ever need to know more about the intricacies of engine coolant systems, we shall turn to you. As time is limited I would like to bring discussion once more to the state of affairs on Deep Space 5."
There was a small murmur and then silence. Everyone waited for someone else to speak. In the end, the Vulcan Admiral had to exert his authority and demand an answer. He turned to the African Admiral. "It has been some time since your "operative", as you call him, has been on DS5. Does he have anything to report?"
The big black man cleared his throat. It was a rarely that he was so nervous. "From my operative's reports, I gather that there is absolutely no base to the claims made by my esteemed colleague."
"Perhaps we are wasting our time there," the Vulcan admitted after a few moments deliberation. "Uhlan has gone there and returned and his report was inconclusive. It seems illogical now, to continue this investigation."
"No, no, no!" the Chinaman spook up vehemently. "I assure you, I have heard from extremely trusted sources that there are criminal activities occuring on Deep Space 5. Recent events on the station must surely make you all suspicious as well? Sabotaged shields, officers taken hostage? This all points to an inside man, either working for a foreign power or for pay."
"Granted," the Caitian admiral said, with a bite of impatience. "But you promised us a whole lot. Corruption, smuggling, piracy? Apart from this," he waved a piece of cargo manifest, "we've got nothing to suggest any of that. Not from you, not from Uhlan and not from any other sources."
"Ah," the Chinese admiral stroked his beard. "But surely these things can be interconnected? And the fellows we are dealing with are clever. Trained operatives or intelligent mercenaries. Not your standard Elasi riff-raff." His twinkled as he concluded his argument. "It all points to a greater conspiracy."
"A conspiracy to waste my bloody time!" the Australian admiral said, slamming his fist on the table.
"Whoa, calm down there fella. Are you okay?" the Bolian asked. He really had no idea about what the other men were talking about - it was entirely over his head really. Lies, bribes and bloodshed? Why couldn't his counterparts be interested in exciting things like anti-matter containment shield ratings and the superiority of plasma over liquid cooling systems.
"No I'm not bloody okay! I think I broke my hand," the Australian replied. Wincing he continued. "First he tells us that there's trouble on Deep Space 5 and then he goes and tells us that we've got serious problems near the Iconian system. Locl sentiments seem to be against us, especially with the whole Romulan show of force over there. And now, Confucius has gone ahead and changed his mind again, dreaming up some massive conspiracy over a tiny backwater like DS5! No one is interested in DS5. Not the Romulans, not the Klingons, not the Cardassians, not even the Borg were interested in it. And we're probably only there because we spent a whole heap of latinum building the darn thing!"
"That didn't stop you from suggesting we send the USS Leonidas over there," the Bolian pointed out.
"You're not helping," the Australian said under his breath. "And that was a temporary thing. I think we could bring it back now..."
"Right, sorry," his blue cheeks became slightly bluer.
The African grunted. He could understand his colleagues frustration. It seemed that their Chinese colleague was running circles around this small council, first pointing it one way and then the other. No one liked having their minds changed, but hated it more still if the person convincing them suddenly does a backflip. He thought at least he was solid. "Friend, focus on Deep Space 5. The Romulans are sneaky. If they were up to something it wouldn't include five shiny, big and new Warbirds on our doorstep. The crafty fellows would try to come in through just the backwater that DS5 is."
The Australian huffed but kept silent. The Caitian followed his lead. The Bolian stopped twirling his pen for a moment and then promptly resumed. The Chinaman only smirked.
"Enough of this," the Vulcan admiral said. "As I have already stated, we have very little time and much to discuss. You will order your relative "sources" to further investigate DS5 for another month. If no new evidence is presented to this council by that time, we will consider the matter closed and focus elsewhere."
There was sullen nod from each member of the council.
The Chinaman was the first to break the definitive silence. "If I may, I would now like to present my report on the steel output from the Tarod system..."
OFF
NPC Admirals
all played by Vana