Down the rabbit hole, Part One

Posted on Sun Nov 24th, 2024 @ 10:38am by Consul Andrinn Orin

Mission: WHAT IF?
Location: Starfleet HQ, Earth
Timeline: 2355
1701 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON:]

Andrinn was patiently waiting in the JAG office’s waiting room in Starfleet HQ. He was waiting to talk to one of the JAG officers in charge of talking to the crew of the USS Stargazer about their activities that led to the destruction of a Cardassian vessel that had crossed into Federation territory, somewhere near Betazed.

According to Andrinn’s sources, the destruction of that lone Cardassian vessel led to some outrage from the Cardassian people and their government, who were looking for some blood. From the reports that he had gotten thus far, the Commanding Officer of the Stargazer, one Jack Crusher, had done everything by the book. He tried to open comms with this vessel before it started to open fire on the Stargazer. The Stargazer returned fire and the two vessels fought for several minutes before the Cardassian vessel was eventually destroyed, but not before the Stargazer herself was damaged beyond repair.

The escape pods had been launched and the crew had been waiting for rescue for several days before the USS Tripoli rescued them not far from Starbase 211. The entire crew of the Stargazer was returned to Earth for debrief and for JAG to figure out what exactly happened before moving forward with any sort of formal inquiries.

However, since the destruction of the Cardassian vessel left some tension with the Cardassians and the Federation, the JAG officer in charge thought that it was best to include a diplomatic officer to help figure out the next course of action for Starfleet, the Federation, and the officers involved in the incident.

Since Andrinn had been with Starfleet and the Federation Diplomatic Corps for several years by this point, he was called upon to help be more of a neutral diplomat that could help diffuse any future conflicts between the two powers.

It didn’t take long for the doors to open to the office of Phillipa Louvois, who had been heading this investigation into the crew of the Stargazer. She had come out, flanked by two officers. One was wearing the pips of a Captain and the other was wearing the rank pips of a full Commander. The Commander was an older gentleman and the Captain several years younger. Both men were following Louvois straight to Andrinn himself. So, he got up quickly to shake the hand of Louvois, introducing himself as the diplomat that had been assigned to the case.

She turned slightly to introduce the commanding and executive officers of the Stargazer, Captain Jack Crusher and Commander Jean Luc Picard. Captain Crusher had quickly gone up through the ranks, gaining the center seat of the Stargazer after the previous commanding officer died in battle and Jack had taken command during his absence in battle. He got a field promotion over the previous XO and his friend, Lieutenant Commander Picard, which caused some tension between the two men. But, they let their emotions and feelings about the situation not disrupt the operation of the ship. Crusher himself even promoted Picard to the rank of full Commander after everything, where Picard stayed to this day.

Andrinn shaked the men’s hands after the introduction before Louvois asked all three men to follow her back into her office. Once inside and after the doors shut, Louvois pressed a control on her desk and said, “Computer, seal the doors and stop all recording devices within this room. Authorization code Louvois-1-1-Alpha-Delta.” The doors instantly sealed and the computer chirped back, “All doors are sealed and recording devices have been turned off.”

She sat down at her desk and all three men took seats at the three chairs that were sitting in front of it. She didn’t have to tell them the importance of this meeting, but did so anyway to make sure that everyone was on the same page. “Gentlemen, the Cardassian government isn’t happy with what happened recently. While it sounds like a simple case of the Cardassian ship crossing the border and was probably doing something nefarious, we can’t prove it at the moment, since we still haven’t been able to find the USS Stargazer to pull up her sensor logs. Until we can find her and bring up those logs, all we have are the sworn statements of the crew, which as we are all aware can be muddled.”

Captain Crusher and Commander Picard both sat up in their seats, as though they wanted to protest what Louvois was saying. But, she quickly put her hands up and said, “I know gentlemen. I hate it as much as both of you do, especially since you are the two highest ranking officers onboard. Both of you love and respect your ship and crew, but until we can get more hard evidence from the logs of the Stargazer or somewhere else, we’ve got to figure out what our next steps are. Which is why the Federation and the Office of JAG thought it was best to bring in someone from the Diplomatic Corps to help us figure out those steps until we can get that evidence. Mr. Orin, do you have any thoughts about what our next steps should be?”

Andrinn cleared his throat as he handed out a few PADDs to the other officers, which had information that he had prepared for this meeting. As he handed the last PADD to Louvois, Andrinn began his speech about what he thought should happen going forward. Andrinn said, “Well, as you know ladies and gentlemen, the Cardassian Empire has been growing more over the last 50 years or so. The Federation and the Cardassian Empire have been in talks for several years now about some of that territory and which sectors belong to who. So, my thought was that the Cardassian vessel probably crossed the border, thinking that they were still in their own space, when they found the Stargazer. They thought that the Stargazer had stumbled into their territory and were only defending it when they opened fire on you guys. The reverse was also true. So, my thoughts were that we put Captain Crusher and Commander Picard in front of the Federation Council and the Cardassian delegation, apologizing for what happened and caulking it up to some territorial disputes.”

The three others were looking over the information that Andrinn had presented within his little presentation and on the PADDs themselves. It was something that just didn’t sit right with Crusher and he made his opinion known about it. He looked up from the PADD and straight at Andrinn before replying, “This just doesn’t feel right. They clearly knew that they were in Federation territory, but crossed the border anyway. Like you said yourself, Mr. Orion. They have been expanding their own territory for quite some time now and they probably wanted to take a few slices away from the Federation to add to their own. This just doesn’t feel right whatsoever.”

Picard chimed in himself as he added on, “I agree with Captain Crusher. This just doesn’t feel quite right. The Cardassian cruiser probably crossed the border to see how far they could get into our own territory before we would say or do something. I know the sensor information would be the best information that we could have, but I know exactly what I saw and I saw the Cardassian vessel open fire on a Federation vessel without even talking to us.”

Louvois raised her hand and said, “I know how both of you gentlemen feel about the whole situation and losing the Stargazer, but the facts point to two lost ships and one really angry government. Mr. Orin is just trying to make sure that nothing more happens to the Federation because one or both ships got a little trigger happy and both were lost.”

Crusher and Picard both sighed loud enough for Orin and Louvois to hear. With everything that happened over the last few days and week, Picard and Crusher were both tired and just wanted to get through all of this to get some much needed sleep. But, the men knew that wouldn’t happen for a little bit longer now.

So, Crusher looked at Orin and said, “I guess you and the Federation Diplomatic Corps have something written up and a time for us to come talk to the Federation Council?” Andrinn pushed some commands into his own PADD and the information changed on all four PADDs, showing a speech that Andrinn and the Corps had written up for the gentlemen to hopefully quash any further hostilities between the Federation and the Cardassians.

Picard and Crusher looked over their own speeches for a few moments, looking at what they would have to say to the Cardassians. It didn’t look too bad to either gentlemen. So, all that was missing was the day they were supposed to go in there and do this whole thing. Andrinn said, “The only thing missing is the day. We aren’t sure yet when the Cardassians want to meet quite yet, but we should have it soon. As soon as I have anything, I’ll reach out to all three of you guys to make sure we can get you to the floor of the Federation Council with as little incident as possible. Until then, I suggest you guys get some rest.”

As the meeting quickly wound down, the three men gathered their things as Louvois released the lockout on the door and the recording devices. As Captain Crusher and Commander Picard exchanged glances, they both nodded reluctantly, their resolve evident despite their frustration. Phillipa Louvois, ever the pragmatist, offered a curt but supportive word of encouragement before excusing herself to prepare for the next step. Andrinn lingered for a moment, letting out a quiet breath as he watched the two officers leave, their shoulders heavy with responsibility. This wasn’t just about ships and borders—it was about trust, peace, and the balance of power in an ever-shifting galaxy. With that thought, he turned and headed back to his quarters, already drafting plans for the delicate road ahead.

[OFF:]

Andrinn Orin
Junior Diplomat-Starfleet Command