Season 1, Mission 02: Trapped

[cortez]

"First Officer's log, stardate 65529.6. It's been six days since we made it back to starbase. Six days of sitting around doing nothing. Six days in which the Captain could have been harmed...or worse. Six days... If Starfleet won't do something about this, I will. And I know just the person I can ask."

"I'm afraid the Admiral is busy at the moment, sir"  the shy young Ensign replied

The lobby outside of Admiral Kawolsky's office was brightly lit. It reminded Cortez of the Hall of Lights on Denobula, which he had the pleasure of seeing when he too was an Ensign.

"Tell him Commander Cortez is here to see him."  Cortez replied  "Tell him it's important"

The young woman relented, realizing this was a battle she was not going to win. She tapped a small comm panel on the surface of her desk.

"Admiral, sir. I have a Commander Cortez here to see you. He says it's important"

[kawolsky]

"First Officer's log, stardate 65529.6. It's been six days since we made it back to starbase. Six days of sitting around doing nothing. Six days in which the Captain could have been harmed...or worse. Six days... If Starfleet won't do something about this, I will. And I know just the person I can ask."

"I'm afraid the Admiral is busy at the moment, sir"  the shy young Ensign replied

The lobby outside of Admiral Kawolsky's office was brightly lit. It reminded Cortez of the Hall of Lights on Denobula, which he had the pleasure of seeing when he too was an Ensign.

"Tell him Commander Cortez is here to see him."  Cortez replied  "Tell him it's important"

The young woman relented, realizing this was a battle she was not going to win. She tapped a small comm panel on the surface of her desk.

"Admiral, sir. I have a Commander Cortez here to see you. He says it's important"

Kawolsky's eyebrow peaked at the sound of Cortez's voice. He hadn't expected to see him, but he had an inkling as to why the Commander had come to see him.

"Let him in"  he responded over the com.

[cortez]

Kawolsky's eyebrow peaked at the sound of Cortez's voice. He hadn't expected to see him, but he had an inkling as to why the Commander had come to see him.

"Let him in"  he responded over the com.

Cortez approached he Admiral's desk and stood straight up, his back and arms braced in respect.

"Sir"  he began  "Thank you for seeing me."

Cortez paused, thinking carefully about his next words.

"Sir...about Commander Clarke. I'd like to request permission to launch a search and rescue operation to find him."

[kawolsky]

Cortez approached he Admiral's desk and stood straight up, his back and arms braced in respect.

"Sir"  he began  "Thank you for seeing me."

Cortez paused, thinking carefully about his next words.

"Sir...about Commander Clarke. I'd like to request permission to launch a search and rescue operation to find him."

Kawolsky leaned back in his more-than-comfortable chair. He was right. It was about Clarke.

"Look...Commander...I want to find Commander Clarke as much as you do, but we have no idea where he may be and I simply do not have the resources or the manpower to launch a large scale search operation."

[cortez]

Kawolsky leaned back in his more-than-comfortable chair. He was right. It was about Clarke.

"Look...Commander...I want to find Commander Clarke as much as you do, but we have no idea where he may be and I simply do not have the resources or the manpower to launch a large scale search operation."

Cortez took a deep breath, holding in the anger and frustration he felt inside of him. His once-braced posture had declined to a more agitated stance.

"Sir...with all due respect. We can't just leave him at the mercy of those pirates!"

Realizing he may have overstepped the mark a little, Cortez took a step back.

"Please, sir. Let me take the Churchill out? I know we can find him."

[kawolsky]

Cortez took a deep breath, holding in the anger and frustration he felt inside of him. His once-braced posture had declined to a more agitated stance.

"Sir...with all due respect. We can't just leave him at the mercy of those pirates!"

Realizing he may have overstepped the mark a little, Cortez took a step back.

"Please, sir. Let me take the Churchill out? I know we can find him."

Kawolsky leaned forward to reinforce his point to Cortez.

"I'm sorry, Commander. I can't authorise a search operation..."

Kawolsky could tell the officer in front of him - his former Operations Chief - was growing increasingly impatient. He could feel his frustration - hell, he had been on that side of the table countless times before. I just seemed...harder being the one to deny permission.

Taking a PADD from a pile to his right, Kawolsky slid it across the desk to Cortez.

"...But there is a mission you might be interested in."  he finished.   "We've detected what we suspect to be a pirate base operating out of the Grotan system. I was going to assign the Berlin to investigate, but since you're adament about getting back out there, it's yours"

[cortez]

Kawolsky leaned forward to reinforce his point to Cortez.

"I'm sorry, Commander. I can't authorise a search operation..."

Kawolsky could tell the officer in front of him - his former Operations Chief - was growing increasingly impatient. He could feel his frustration - hell, he had been on that side of the table countless times before. I just seemed...harder being the one to deny permission.

Taking a PADD from a pile to his right, Kawolsky slid it across the desk to Cortez.

"...But there is a mission you might be interested in."  he finished.   "We've detected what we suspect to be a pirate base operating out of the Grotan system. I was going to assign the Berlin to investigate, but since you're adament about getting back out there, it's yours"

Cortez took the PADD. He knew the Admiral was throwing him a bone, but at this point in time, he'd take anything to get back into space. To get a chance at finding his Captain.

He took a couple of seconds to peruse the information contained on the PADD. The station looked lightly armed with little in the way of starship support, though there may be a cloaked ship or two in the area.

"We'll do it, sir"  he finally replied, enthusiastically

[kawolsky]

Cortez took the PADD. He knew the Admiral was throwing him a bone, but at this point in time, he'd take anything to get back into space. To get a chance at finding his Captain.

He took a couple of seconds to peruse the information contained on the PADD. The station looked lightly armed with little in the way of starship support, though there may be a cloaked ship or two in the area.

"We'll do it, sir"  he finally replied, enthusiastically

Kawolsky stood up and walked around his desk. He positioned himself just in front of Cortez. He wanted his following words to sink in.

"Commander. I can't spare another command officer for this mission. You will be in command of the Churchill. So, I'm asking you again. Are you sure you're up for this?"

[cortez]

Kawolsky stood up and walked around his desk. He positioned himself just in front of Cortez. He wanted his following words to sink in.

"Commander. I can't spare another command officer for this mission. You will be in command of the Churchill. So, I'm asking you again. Are you sure you're up for this?"

Cortez quickly returned to the braced position he had assumed upon entering Kawolsky's office.

"Yes, sir"  he immediately replied,  "If there's a chance I can find out where Commander Clarke is being held, I'll take it."

[kawolsky]

Cortez quickly returned to the braced position he had assumed upon entering Kawolsky's office.

"Yes, sir"  he immediately replied,  "If there's a chance I can find out where Commander Clarke is being held, I'll take it."

Kawolsky nodded. He admired Cortez' optimism, but he knew from experience that the chances were Clarke would never be found...at least not alive. Though he didn't dare say it aloud.

"Good"  he said  "Then you leave in five hours. Dismissed."

[cortez]

Kawolsky nodded. He admired Cortez' optimism, but he knew from experience that the chances were Clarke would never be found...at least not alive. Though he didn't dare say it aloud.

"Good"  he said  "Then you leave in five hours. Dismissed."

Cortez nodded in response to Kawolsky.

"Thank you, sir"

As he left the Admiral's office, a great feeling of anxiety and nervousness pulsated throughout his body. He had barely completed his first mission as a first officer and now he was commanding a starship on a mission to scout a pirate base. But he couldn't go back now. He was committed. And he was going to find his Captain.

[Petr Hajek]

Petr Hajek had spent a considerable amount of time over the last six days attempting to ascertain why a brand new ship, with the very latest of hardware fitted as standard he would have hoped, could have suffered so much from the dampening field of aged D12s. Sure the Birds of Prey heritage is very commendable, even that variant with the inherent design flaw, but surely Starfleet must see the wisdom in ensuring a shakedown is an essential part of a new vessel's needs.  Whatever Starfleet's interpretation of the sensors performance along the border they had decided to change out every single multiphase buffer from every sensor module the Churchill possessed.  That is what petr had spent all that time checking.

"Run a level one diagnostic on the lateral sensor array." Petr mimicked Lieutenant Osorio.  They both knew a level one would show them nothing, and Petr was kind of irked that with enough genuine work to do he should be spending valuable time finding out...nothing of value.  Still, he respected his Chief, and knew that he had learnt an awful lot from the man since they met.  That didn't stop the crewman from rolling his eyes when Danny then requested a level two diagnostic of
the same array.

"Learn, learn, learn, mister Hajek.  Trust me, boring routines such as this will enable you to make the correct decisions when maybe you don't have the luxury of time to hand." The Lieutenant
walked away as Petr had began running the scan only to grin over his shoulder at Petr. "And please try to remember that superior officers don't like their crew members to stifle yawns and roll their eyes when addressing them...no matter how boring they are.

Working his way up the levels of diagnostic scans had only confirmed what they both already knew. They would only know if the modifications made to all sensors was successful once back in the field, and Petr couldn't wait for that.

[Kale Bridges]

Reece was stood at tactical on the Churchill.

She wasn't scheduled to leave yet, but he couldn't think of anywhere else to be.

She had been completely repaired and rearmed since they got back to dock.

Reece had spent the whole six days going over the logs of battle, trying to find a way past that dampening field of theirs. He felt like he was close, but there was still no proverbial cigar.

It felt like he'd spent the last five hours punching his console out of frustration.

"Come on, Lieutenant. There must be some way. Think." Reece said.

Lieutenant Julien Carter turned around from the second console. "I've gone over everything sir. I can't think of anything else."

Reece ran his hands through his hair. He'd had been up god knows how long and now it felt like it was taking it's toll. "I think your shield modifications might work. But I don't know enough about it. The Commander used to be an Ops officer, he might know about it. We'll talk to him about it once he's persuaded the Admiral to let us go."

Julien walked over and stood beside him. "Do you think he'll do it? Do you think the Admiral will let us go."

"He's got to. We don't leave men behind. Especially in the hands of pirates." Reece said.

"I've put the upgrades onto a PADD." Julien said handing over a small datapad.

Reece took the PADD and checked it over. "Nice work. I'll put it forward to the Commander when i get the chance."

[cortez]

Reece was stood at tactical on the Churchill.

She wasn't scheduled to leave yet, but he couldn't think of anywhere else to be.

She had been completely repaired and rearmed since they got back to dock.

Reece had spent the whole six days going over the logs of battle, trying to find a way past that dampening field of theirs. He felt like he was close, but there was still no proverbial cigar.

It felt like he'd spent the last five hours punching his console out of frustration.

"Come on, Lieutenant. There must be some way. Think." Reece said.

Lieutenant Julien Carter turned around from the second console. "I've gone over everything sir. I can't think of anything else."

Reece ran his hands through his hair. He'd had been up god knows how long and now it felt like it was taking it's toll. "I think your shield modifications might work. But I don't know enough about it. The Commander used to be an Ops officer, he might know about it. We'll talk to him about it once he's persuaded the Admiral to let us go."

Julien walked over and stood beside him. "Do you think he'll do it? Do you think the Admiral will let us go."

"He's got to. We don't leave men behind. Especially in the hands of pirates." Reece said.

"I've put the upgrades onto a PADD." Julien said handing over a small datapad.

Reece took the PADD and checked it over. "Nice work. I'll put it forward to the Commander when i get the chance."

Cortez stepped onto the bridge, leaving the confines of the turbolift behind him. Thought small in size, he often found the turbolift to be an excellent spot for practising what he would say to his superior when he couldn't get a system working or if he happened to be late for his duty shift, and had been caught in the act more than once before. The faces of crewman who walked in on him were priceless. This time, he was thinking about what he would say to the crew. How he would tell inform them of their mission. Their search.

Walking past the tactical console, he headed for the conference room. Perhaps the ready room would have been the better option for what he was about to do, but under the circumstances, he couldn't bring himself to use it. Not while Commander Clarke was missing.

"Begin preparations for departure"  he shouted out, to no one in particular   "Lieutenant Thompson, with me please"

[Kale Bridges]

Cortez stepped onto the bridge, leaving the confines of the turbolift behind him. Thought small in size, he often found the turbolift to be an excellent spot for practising what he would say to his superior when he couldn't get a system working or if he happened to be late for his duty shift, and had been caught in the act more than once before. The faces of crewman who walked in on him were priceless. This time, he was thinking about what he would say to the crew. How he would tell inform them of their mission. Their search.

Walking past the tactical console, he headed for the conference room. Perhaps the ready room would have been the better option for what he was about to do, but under the circumstances, he couldn't bring himself to use it. Not while Commander Clarke was missing.

"Begin preparations for departure"  he shouted out, to no one in particular   "Lieutenant Thompson, with me please"

Reece turned to Julien. "As if on cue eh?" He grabbed the PADD and followed Mike to the Conference room.

Before Mike could start, as soon as Reece walked in he started up quickly, thinking it was important.

"Sir... Lieutenant Carter and I believe we have a way to counter the pirates jamming fields, although, we require someone skilled in OPS to look it over. I know that you were once an Ops officer, we were hoping you could look it over when you get the chance." He dropped the PADD onto the table and slid it over to the captain's chair.

"Apologies. What do you need sir?"