Star Trek Constellation: A Tangled Web Part II

Captain’s Log Supplemental

Stardate: 47439.8 (June 10, 2370)

Gul Daro of the Cardassian ship, Trager, is a surprisingly reasonable young man. I do not know if Commander T’lir understood my intentions in humoring the situation, but in light of my review I thought it best to try and explain in advance. The Trager was sent after the Maquis lead by Kellin Voll, just as we have been. Their people have suffered significant losses because of this terrorist cell, and the Cardassians are far less likely to give them any measure of leniency or mercy. Judging it best to cooperate and follow the wisdom of ‘keeping your enemies closer’ I authorized an exchange of information with Gul Daro. He seemed particularly surprised that I did not push back on his suggestion to be the lead investigator of the mission. Federation belligerence has a reputation well deserved.

In the end of course, compromising personal integrity does have a price to pay. My account balance on this score is so far ‘in the red’ as they say, that I fear I will never atone for the full measure. May the Gods, or the Prophets, be with Commander Faren in finding a way more true to himself than I have been.

Can I forgive him? In some ways I have not been the leader that he hoped for, resentment lingers between myself and my first officer like a line of decay on unripened fruit. Careful removal of the distrust and suspicion may yet salvage the careers that we both cling to but it will not be an easy relationship to rebuild. Let me record the mission’s events in their entirety now…

The ground mission to Sigen III was successfully lead by Commander Faren Edon. He contacted a former friend and fellow Bajoran with ties to the Maquis. Whatever personal conflicts that the Commander experienced during this time, I am not privy to, however it seemed to leave a lasting impression of confusion. Additionally the relationship of our Chief Medical Officer, Lt Kehla and our Helmsman, Connor Helmsworth; has taken on interesting courtship tensions. I look forward to seeing what may come of this in the future. During the mission, there was a physical altercation between the away team and members of the Maquis. We captured two of the three and after communicating a subspace message regarding the pursuits of the Cardassian ship, the away team returned to the Jemison with their prisoners.

Broku Doa, a friend of Commander Faren. And Rilurr, a Caitian scrubbed out of Starfleet Academy due to his uncontrolled violent outbursts. Storyteller seemed to take a particular interest in the Caitian, exchanging many insults while trying to assist in gaining information. I believe this may be Storyteller’s own particular form of courtship ritual, however the romance was ill fated, as I intended to bargain the Maquis back to Kellin Voll in exchange for the true mission goal, the Tholian Web technologies.  

During this interrogation, Commander Faren had the bridge. It was his response that took us to the site of the conflict between the Trager and the small squad of Maquis ships. Unable to bring himself to fire on the Maquis, I made the call myself when I returned to the bridge. We were so nearly successful at destroying the Tholian Web deployment fixture. That is what makes the rest of the mission all the more painful to recollect. I convinced Gul Daro to stand down temporarily while we made the exchange of prisoners for technology, it was a delicate situation that turned sour. Not because of the Cardassians, but because Kellin Voll instead sent a false piece of machinery in the Tholian Web device’s place. It was a flash of superiority and smugness as he warped away that triggered my suspicions, however we could not capture him in a tractor beam quickly enough to recover the mission objective.

The larger failure in this was that while escorting the prisoners to the transporter room, Commander Faren had access to the equipment received from the Maquis, and did not contact me as soon as the ruse was discovered. There is a reasonable argument to be made that he did not realize the deception in time, but I believe it was his internal conflict that lead to the delay. The failure however, ultimately, is mine.

As Captain of the USS Jemison, it is my duty to carry all repercussions of negligence of duty. Whatever the results of Commander T’lir’s report on my command ability, I have the responsibility to ensure the functioning dynamics of this crew. Somewhere I have gone wrong, and with great regret I have withdrawn my recommendation that Commander Faren Edon serve as my replacement in command.  

Star Trek Constellation: A Tangled Web Part I

Captain’s Log

Stardate: 47439.8 (June 10, 2370)

“A Tangled Web”

Work on both the Preserver Database and the Chronoton Radiation continues to yield breakthroughs. In particular, Commander Faren was able to make significant progress getting a handle on the shielding and possible defensive algorithms to mitigate damage from further Chronoton weapons hits. In my efforts with the Database, we unlocked the oldest files, which dated up to 200 years ago. All reports of these works are documented and sent to the respective Starfleet departments as appropriate.

Six days have passed since the incident at the Mirai Station. I have a not heard from any Starfleet Council representative, until today. Perhaps I am losing my touch, but I didn’t suspect what was to come when our orders were to rendezvous with Admiral Garve at the location of the USS Takal. I must say that I have a particular fondness for this Tellerite, although I would not call our relationship close. It is in his nature to make jokes of uncomfortable situations and so he did pay a comment to my recent experience. Were our positions reversed, I may have done the same.

That aside, I do take exception with the orders that have been issued in regards to my command. Some, and I have my guess as to who, in Starfleet Command have decided that the incident at the Mirai Station highlights an oversight on my part. My command is being questioned and monitored voluntarily by Commander T’lir. Who will then report to Commander Faren, should it be determined that I am unfit. It is a petty suspicion, but I doubt these measures would have been enacted had my Chief Medical Officer not gone so far as to call out a Regulation 121A during the whole transporter split incident. Lieutenant Kehla and I have yet to discuss this matter.

Yet, in spite of their obvious doubts, the Jemison has been personally requested to undertake a new mission. The most sensitive objective we have been given with a crew of cadets. We are to track a leader of a group of Maquis, Kellin Voll, who has somehow acquired the ability to deploy a Tholian Web. The Tholian ambassador insists this matter be dealt with quickly and by the USS Jemison. Due to the particular associations that this ship had during the Tholian war, it is of a somewhat legendary status among them.

I made it a point to clarify our primary objective with Admiral Garve, the technology of the Tholian Web is to be recovered or neutralized, the matter of the Maquis is secondary to the mission. In light of the monitoring of my command, and the personal connections that my first officer must be dealing with, it seemed a prudent point to leave my options open. I have no love for the Maquis and their actions, however I cannot in good conscious condone some of the methods of upholding their ideals, many things that I have done myself in years past. Whatever my classified history might imply, there are certainly some lines not to be crossed, we will soon discover what kind of person this Kelin Vol is.

The opportunity to issue Commander Faren an away mission with his own choice of crew has finally arrived. I do not doubt that he will show himself to be a capable leader. Should I be judged unfit for command of the Jemison, this will put him in a better position to take my place. I would much rather Faren inherit her, than any other Starfleet might issue. For his part, I do sense some personal conflict, given the subject of our mission however, that is not unexpected. His choice of team consists of Lt Kehla, Ensign Domara Ekhot, and Lt Connor Helmsworth. The last of which is an interesting young man, Denobulan and yet so eager to explore the universe that he is willing to adopt a nickname given to him in the academy as his official name. I look forward to hearing the mission report from this team. More and more I realize that the crew of the USS Jemison is an odd and unique one. It will be a bitter time when I part from her, whether that time is soon or comes later.