Chief of Intelligence

Posted on Fri Feb 25th, 2011 @ 12:51pm by Captain Alexander Gunning

Mission: Shore Leave - Archa IV
Location: Commanding Officer's Office - Ops - Deck 12
Timeline: SL D01 - 1020hrs

[ON]

"Yes, I understand your reasoning Geoff but I don't appreciate having my Chief Intelligence Officer reassigned from under my nose and then hearing that you've reassigned some Ensign from the Bushido. You think this kid's going to be able to hack a life on a station? Going from a battle cruiser to a station is harder than you might think Geoff. But of course- you don't think, do you?"

"Alex, I'll remind you that I outrank you and you're verging on insubordination." The rather frazzled looking Commodore on the screen told him. "I assigned you the officer that was available and best."

"Best?! You think this guy's the best for the job? He's an ex hacker. Involvement in the criminal underworld. The whole shebang and you want to send him out here to a frontier station where the bloody Akiashiro family have just opened an operation?!"

"The Akiashiro family are legit, Alex."

Gunning's exasperation was beginning to creep to the fore. "They might be legit in the eyes of your lot, Geoff but I'm not convinced that what they're running is legal. Listen we're off the topic. I suppose I'm going to have to live with it and I'll speak to him when he gets here. How long will that be anyway?"

"He should have arrived at three-three-two half an hour ago." The Commodore said with a chuckle, knowing that he'd bested his old friend again. "Maarton out."

---

The trip to the starbase was awkward to say the least, for Shinji's sake. Being a Starfleet officer as well as black marketier was a complete ethical conundrum that Shinji found himself in. Luckily, he'd taken his career down the path of Intelligence, and so was able to learn how to not give a care in the world about ethical issues. Shinji's brother, on the other hand, wasn't so keen on Starfleet, although he knew the value of having a family operative inside the Alpha Quadrant's largest military and political institution.

"We're almost there, little brother," said the elder brother to Shinji. He was a pilot and captain of their quaint 'trading' vessel; although it did have some impressive stealth technologies, not limited to a cloaking device. Behind the bridge was a single person transporter that wasn't used much, as was clearly evident by the dust bunnies loafing around inside.

Shinji heard his brother's call from across the bridge and made his way to the seldom used transporter. He didn't have many belongings to his name, just a duffel bag with some important informational PaDDs, his transfer orders, and he carried with him his Bonsai tree for stress relief. "Thanks, I'll be sure not to let you or the family down...Captain." Even though his brother insisted on informalities, Shinji was brainwashed by Starfleet to be as formal as possible - it would help his work as an Intelligence Officer.

"Alright, get in the cubicle and prepare for beam out. And I'll say this for the last time, just call me big brother, okay?" The Brother keyed some commands into his console and brought the transporter system online. The illumination was dimmed by the dust everywhere. "Let me know when you're ready."

Shinji took a final glance around the bridge, as his 'family' members and at his brother. He was going to miss working for them, and he was nervous to get back into the Starfleet jig of things. "Energize." Just then, the brilliant demolecularization process occurred and Shinji's body was beamed off the ship in a radiant light and sent over to the starbase.

---

Once the dust had settled, literally, Shinji stepped off the transporter pad and approached the crewman. His eyes were skeptical because of the dirt left on the very clean pad, but considering that he was outranked by the Lieutenant, he kept to himself and didn't make a peep other than, "Captain Gunning is awaiting your arrival; he will see you in his Ready Room."

Shinji nodded his head in approval to the crewman and took his leave of the transporter room. The Stardock class starbase was easy to navigate in, although still extensive. A part of Shinji considered using the station's site-to-site transporters, but then thoughts of the Captain yelling at him came to mind. He resumed his way down the corridors and entered into a turbolift. "Main Operations, Deck 12."

The lift wasn't quite as sturdy as Shinji had experienced in the past, but it was speedier. Getting from place to place on the station was an overwhelming task in of itself. Shinji inhaled some of the scent of his bonsai tree to keep him calm about the situation he was in. After all, he needed to keep his composure to impress those he'd soon work with.

The turbolift stopped after four minutes of travel and Shinji stepped off the lift. A couple of paces later, he couldn't help but notice the familiar stares of disapproval from various officers. There was always an inherent mistrust of Intelligence Officers, and few were actually able to overcome that relationship obstacle. Shinji kept going, though, as he didn't care how others felt at this early point in time. He approached the Captain's Office doors and pressed the chime in hopes that he was available for their pre-scheduled meeting.

"Come in." The Commander said, irritably. He hadn't quite recovered from being duped by an admiral. It wasn't something that happened to him often, especially not since before Geoff was promoted. "You're Matsumoto, right?"

At once, Shinji stepped through the office doors when they had opened and took a place to stand, middle-way between the doors and the Captain's desk. At first glance, Shinji didn't know what to make of the man, but when the Captain had said something, he suspected that they might get off on the wrong foot - which was unfortunate for Shinji. "Yes, yes I am. Although how you know me so soon before introductions is beyond my realm of understanding..."

"Good. Have a seat. I don't know whether you know this or not but I was informed that you would be arriving less than ten minutes ago. As such, I feel slightly caught out by your presence. Nevertheless, I understand that you're one of the best Starfleet has to offer."

Shinji's first impressions were quickly curbed by the Captain's last statement. He was curious as to how Alex was making such assumptions. It was already clear enough for the Lieutenant that he had his work cut out for him. "Thank you, Sir." Shinji took the seat offered to him and placed his belongings down on the floor beside him. "I wasn't under the impression that my arrival held such significant importance in the station's schedule. I'll attempt to rectify that error in the future. As for myself being the best that Starfleet has to offer, I'll have to disagree. I'm still just only a Junior Lieutenant, with only a couple of postings in the past. As you may well know, Sir, there are higher ranked and more prolific Intelligence Officers elsewhere in Starfleet. However, please do not be dismayed by my reality check and know that I'll attempt to serve under your command to the best of my ability." Already, Shinji was spouting a lot of words to convey himself, and this really was the best way he knew how.

"So tell me, Lieutenant. What do you know about our little region down here?"

Once again, Shinji's feelings about the meeting changed; this time for the worse. Shinji hadn't had adequate enough time to research his newest posting, and so he, like most other Starfleet non-Intelligence officers came with a blindfold on to be taken off during the morning of their second day. Shinji was embarassed that he knew nothing about their region, but that'd soon change with some time and a lot of hard work. "I'm ashamed to admit this, but I know nothing about the region 'down here'. Would it be too much to ask for a brief snippet of information to work from?"

"Well, you'll no doubt take a fair amount from the reports which are waiting for you in the Intelligence Suites. However, our primary concern at the moment is incursions by the Ritorian Confederacy." He rose from his chair and moved towards the large briefing panel set behind the desk. "As you can see from the star-charts, we don't even know the expanse of the Confederacy or their intentions. For all we know they could be a relatively small empire or they could be the size of the Federation. All we know is that they're diplomatically hostile."

Shinji's mind was now focused on the task at hand. Finally, he along with his Commanding Officer were getting down to business, the nitty-gritty of being Starfleet Officers. For the next while, Shinji didn't need to spend so much time looking after his guard and instead focus on the Intelligence regarding the situation he'd found himself in. "Captain...I highly doubt that they're the size of the Federation. If you think about it rationally, if the Confederacy was even remotely our size, they'd be as large in the news as the Klingons or Romulans. The fact that we don't know anything, proves we know something. Regarding their diplomatically hostility, I suspect that doesn't matter either. So long as they don't sever economic ties, they shouldn't be a problem."

"They refuse to allow us to run trade routes to Outpost fifty-six through their space." Gunning could see that, to Matsumoto, this wasn't a terribly important fact. "Fifty six and the Kepler Verge are vital assets for Starfleet and the more direct route that we're able to take, the better it is for us. We know that they're doing business with the Ferengi who are operating out of trade hubs in the Mira system but beyond that, we have no information."

Shinji was surprised with the Captain. Already he knew that he'd be a sure asset to the starbase; however getting him to verbally admit that fact, at the risk of losing his social standing, was nigh impossible. "Well that settles it then, enemies they must be. Although, I'm curious as to why this specific Outpost and the Kepler Verge are as vital as you say...I'll have to look into that." Shinji made a mental note to himself to look into that a little later. "As for business relations, it's safe to bet that wherever there's a slip of latinum to be made, the Ferengi are most definitely involved. Is there anything else, Sir?"

"It's going to be your job to get to know all the little intricacies of this station as well as the sectors that surround us. I've spent a lot of my time these last few months trawling through reports on Elyshan activity in the North." Gunning's tone became even more irritable very suddenly. "Unless it's absolutely vital like Ferengi trading patterns or something, I don't want to hear about anything North of Cait. Do we have an understanding?"

Shinji began to wonder if now was the time to mention that there might be times ahead in the future that he wouldn't be reporting specific bits and pieces of information to the Captain. After all, in the Intelligence field there was always going to be the inevitable opportunity to come across things that were beyond both person's access levels. Shinji decided against speaking out of turn, for now. "Most of that is self-evident, however I've learned that closing yourself off to the rest of the Federation like that isn't always the best idea...yet I shall venture to do so."

"Not at all, Lieutenant. I want you to know what's going on in the Federation; I just don't want to know unless it's going to bring something down on our heads." Gunning's tone began to relax a little. "Listen, I know what you Intel people are like. There's certain situations where you need to get things done. That's fine with me. I won't ask... you don't tell, okay?"

It would appear that the Captain had passed the first test of intelligence. He was quickly able to find the flaw in Shinji's supposed logic and correct it apparently easily enough. Yet, there was now a flicker of intrigue regarding the Captain. Shinji had to find out exactly what was going through the Captain's head. "Ahh, thank you for clarifying that Captain. Although, now you've got me curious. This is our first time meeting, and still you seem to put a lot of trust and faith into my abilities and duties. Are you sure that's wise?"

"You're not going to let me down, Lieutenant." The Captain replied, utterly stony-faced. "Be in the senior staff meeting in half an hour. Dismissed."

[OFF]

Captain Alex Gunning
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant (JG) Shinji Matsumoto
Chief Intelligence Officer