Briefing the Bouncer

Posted on Wed Mar 1st, 2017 @ 9:06pm by Lieutenant Kevin Barnaby & Captain Tim Williams

Episode: Preparations
Location: USS Highlander
Timeline: MD03

With the rest of the crew either off-ship or working on the refit, Tim decided to welcome his new security chief on personally. It would at least get him out of the way of the engineering teams for now, who he was getting a sneaking suspicion didn't appreciate his attempts to get more directly involved in the fitting of their new drive systems. Heading down to the transporter room wearing a modified version of his captain's vest with pockets along the bottom of the grey yoke to hold tools, he dismissed the transporter operator who had come by to prepare for the beaming over and took the controls himself.

It took a moment or two for the Transporter to kick into gear but suddenly it whirred into life. The Blue glow began to materialise a Human Male in Operations Gold with a kit bag over his shoulder and a PADD in hand. 

Once he had materialised on the Tranporter PADD Kevin was a little surprised to see the Captain operating the controls. "Captain Williams?" He asked with his prominent North West English accent.

"I figured I'd give everyone the day off," the captain joked, pleased at the new officer's surprise. "It's not like we've got much going on around here anyway." Even from outside the ship it was obvious that the opposite was true; the refit had barely started and already sections of the hull were being removed to provide access to the systems underneath.

With a momentary chuckle himself before stepping down onto the Deck. "My transfer orders for you Captain." Kevin said handing him a PADD. "Lieutenan Barnaby reporting for duty."

"Welcome aboard Lieutenant," the captain said, stepping out from behind the console and accepting the PADD. "I trust your trip over here wasn't too bad?"

Kevin shook his head. "Not really Sir, fairly quiet if I'm honest." The Lieutenant gathered his things and waited. 

"Good," Tim responded. "Now, before you can assume your duties, there are a few things I need to brief you on," he continued. "Computer; enact roving security protocol nineteen charlie." The computer chirped its confirmation. Tim had long ago gotten fed up with having to stop what he was doing and stay in one place every time he had to discuss something of a classified nature, so he had created an addition to the standard protocol nineteen to enable him to hold such talks whilst moving about the ship. The protocol would follow the activator from room to room, sealing the rooms from anyone who would attempt to enter, while allowing the activator to exit - but only if the corridor outside was clear, with security fields activating to keep it that way until the protocol was moved into another section. In addition, it adjusted the monitoring protocols of the rooms the protocol was active in to match those required by the standard protocol nineteen.

"What do you know of the technologies brought back by the Starship Voyager from the Delta Quadrant in 2378?" the captain asked, moving near to the exit of the transporter room. It didn't open, so Tim waited patiently for the corridor to clear so that they could move on.

"Very little actually Captain." Kevin said as he followed Captain Williams along. "I know they returned with substantial Weapons upgrades and deconstructed Borg Tech." The Security Officer commented, being a former Marine he wasn't privy to a lot of information on the Technologies of the USS Voyager even after 14 years.

"Well some of the most significant advances were in non-offensive systems. The astrometrics lab that is now standard on all Intrepid-class starships is based off of Borg technology that Voyager developed in the Delta Quadrant, for example." The doors to the transporter room finally opened, and Tim led them out into the empty corridor. "While that technology hasn't been classified for years, quite a lot of the technology still is, and Starfleet has been spending resources on creating working prototypes. One particular piece of technology which, while still classified, the Highlander is being fitted with for our journey to the Delta Quadrant is something called a Quantum Slipstream Drive. In essence, it is a technology which created a tunnel through subspace, enabling speeds far greater than what we can achieve with conventional warp drive." They entered the turbolift, and Tim ordered it to descend down to the engineering levels. His quick briefing would be over before they walked into one of the areas filled with engineers working on the refit.

"Since this is such a huge leap forward from conventional warp drive, Starfleet expects it to shift the balance of power in the quadrant. While the Romulans and Klingons have cloaking technology able to hide their ships from our sensors, we now have the technology to vastly outrun any ships in their fleets. The only vessels we know of that could match our new speeds are those of the Borg and a Delta Quadrant race called the Voth. While Starfleet fully expects other powers in the quadrant to learn of the existence of the drive through their intelligence agents, they're hoping to delay that knowledge a while by assigning those ships carrying the drives to deep space assignments. They have also classified the technology top secret - meaning only a subset of the crew is cleared to know the details, whilst the rest have need-to-know clearance only, along with the necessary clearance to enable them to work in the vicinity of the new drive."

Such news caused the Security Chief to pay close attention. "By keeping it as plausiable deniability you are limiting the number of possible leaks." Kevin said with a nod, he knew the drill after all and something like this could have the scope to shift power in all areas of the Quadrant. "Its also the non alligned states you'll need to consider, pay a Ferengi enough Latinum and he'll sell his Moogi to the Borg himself, Breen, Orions, Cardassians, the Tzenkathi."

"The politics around who finds out we have the drive and when are being handled by the diplomats," the captain said, not wanting to get too far into the wider politics surrounding the drive. "Ultimately I don't think Starfleet is overly concerned with other states gaining knowledge of the existence of the drive; they've accepted that they will eventually find out anyway, and it'll then be the diplomats' jobs to manage whatever situation follows. Our main concern are the details of the drive itself; it's an enormous tactical advantage for us to have it, which Starfleet wants to protect. While everyone onboard has been given clearance to work around the drive, the technical details are limited. Only myself, the first officer, Commander Reynolds our operations officer and second officer, Lieutenant Tanol our chief engineer and yourself have been given clearance for the full details of the drive. Senior engineering and operations staff and those whose specialities mean they will be working on the drive's systems have clearance to the majority of the technical details, as needed to perform their jobs. Our helm officers will be cleared to know how to operate the drive, and our chief science officer will be briefed on the effects of slipstream travel on the ship and surrounding space. Your job, especially during the refit will be to ensure that personnel without the relevant clearance are kept out of the areas of the ship where work related to the new drive is taking place."

"Aye Sir." Kevin said to him with a nod of agreement. "I think that should not be too difficult to sort out." He said optimistically to the Captain.

"I'm glad to hear it," Tim responded. "Computer, discontinue security protocol nineteen. Aside from that, the standard security and tactical duties apply. Your record said you have previous experience as a starship's security chief?"

Kevin nodded. "Yes Sir, I served as Security Chief on the USS Premonition and then Starbase 778." The Lieutenant chuckled ever so softly. "I trust my record made note of my previous experince as an NCO and later Officer in the Marines?"

"It did," the captain confirmed, as the turbolift let them out onto deck eleven and Tim led them out and down the corridors. "I haven't often had opportunity to work with the marines since the war, but I figured that experience should come in handy in case we run into any unusual situations out in the Delta Quadrant. I like to have all my bases covered."

Deck 11 was far busier than the corridor outside the transporter room, with engineers in jumpsuits filling the corridors, and wall panels removed from almost every bulkhead. "Anyway, I'm sure with your past experience you've got a good understanding of what is needed on ship - an I'm sure you'll pick up the particulars of how we work around here as you settle in. You have any questions for me before you get to work?"

"No Sir." Kevin said with a nod. "I'll drop my things off and I'll get to work right away." The Lieutenant smiled at the Captain. "I shall have a full readiness report on your Desk by the end of the day." With that being said Kevin and the Captain parted ways to go about their work.