Good Intelligence

Posted on Sun Feb 15th, 2026 @ 10:22pm by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Lieutenant JG Kate Kono & Ensign Aidan "A.J." Reid

1,484 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Not All Orders Are Easy
Location: Bridge/Ready Room
Timeline: current

Kate and AJ tumbled onto the bridge like two kids late for class, nearly colliding with a console before Kate spotted the button to the Captain's Ready Room.

"What if he's, like, not ready?" she whispered.

"It de Ready Room," AJ said, rolling his eyes. "De man literally got a room for bein' ready."

"So he's contractually obligated to be ready in there?" Kate's eyebrows shot up.

"Jus' mash de button, woman!" AJ flailed his arms wildly at the panel beside Shran's door, pantomiming an exaggerated button-pressing motion that made a passing ensign snort with laughter.

Shran had been in his Ready Room for only a few moments, his plans to take just a few moments to himself as he assessed the latest information sent in from Jon on the planet, and waiting to hear from Inara as her own scientific team took to its own little investigation. When the door chimed his antennae shot up, agitation washing over him as he had to focus his attention from his planned events. "Come" he said, annoyance in his voice.

Kate and AJ walked in and stood at attention at his desk an arm length apart from each other with their heels together, their hands at their sides.

“Captain," Kate and AJ snapped to attention. "Flash traffic just went up to Ops. We've got an anomalous signature at bearing zero-four-five mark three, five AUs spin ward, moving at impulse." She tapped her PaDD and held it at chest level before placing it on Shran’s desk and returning to attention, the PaDD brought up a tactical display. "Sir, Ensign Na'Riss, Ensign Reid, and I isolated what appears to be a Type 2 Starfleet shuttle breaking away from the system. Recommend immediate pursuit with our own shuttle before they slip beyond sensor range." Her voice dropped slightly. "We're maintaining comm silence. All indicators suggest they're running dark and have zero-con we’ve detected them—both the shuttle and whatever mothership deployed it are trying to run silent, but -- we've got em' sir."

Kate and AJ snapped to parade rest, eyes locked forward at the twelve o'clock position, their posture regulation-perfect while standing by for the CO to render judgment on their intel acquisition.

Shran picked up the PaDD and took a look at it. "What exactly do you think you have here? Romulans? Ferengi? Some other covert team? And what do you want to do about them?"

Lieutenant Kono straightened her stance before addressing her superior. "Captain, Starfleet Intelligence has flagged a potential hostile operative within their own ranks—someone with a vendetta from my previous classified assignment. Analysis suggests this shuttlecraft could have deployed from a cloaked Starfleet vessel and—" She halted mid-briefing as Ensign AJ Reid shifted his stance, the subtle tap of his regulation boot against the deck plating signaling his desire to interject.

"Beggin' your pardon, Captain," Reid said, his voice softening while maintaining the crisp military cadence, "but de Lieutenant’s assessment, while sound, remains speculative. Our sensors confirm only de Starfleet Type Two signature, sir. According to mission parameters, we are de sole Federation vessel authorized in dis sector. Warrant investigation regardless of origin, sir. We face more unknowns dan certainties at dis juncture."

Kate exhaled sharply, squaring her shoulders as her posture recalibrated to proper attention. Her eyes darted from Reid to Captain Shran before offering a curt nod of acknowledgment. Kate shifted her weight, standing at rest in the captain's ready room. She fought to keep her expression neutral as Shran considered her request, his antennae tilting slightly forward—a gesture she still couldn't quite interpret after a year of serving under him. Had her voice betrayed too much eagerness when she'd proposed the shuttle mission? Professional officers didn't fidget with anticipation like academy cadets, and she silently cursed the flush she felt creeping up her neck.

"Ensign Reid's tactical assessment is accurate, sir. I have insufficient intelligence to provide definitive conclusions. The anomalous shuttlecraft signature detected in this quadrant has no logical destination beyond the nearest Starbase — Request permission to deploy myself and a small team to investigate and gather actionable intelligence, sir. I expect a playtime of no further than ninety mikes for intel gathering only." They remained at rest position, eyes fixed forward, awaiting orders.

"I don't know who would be using a Type II shuttle. A Type IX would make sense, but not without a parent vessel. And a cloaked vessel in Federation space, which we will assume here is just speculation, narrows things down to Klingons, Romulans, or Admiral Carroll being nearby. Since we are in Federation space, and we are only a few lightyears from the Neutral Zone, but not tachyon sensors have been breached, I don't think you are talking about Romulans or even a Klingon covert ops team. And I know for a fact that you'd never detect anything if it were the admiral." The Andorian furrowed his brow, his antennae moving about in a chaotic array of motion as he starred at the PaDD with all the readings on it. "You want to investigate. The Washington has to remain in orbit while we wait for Jon to locate Dr. Darkwa and the rest of the anthropology team. Inara just left on a scientific expedition to study the radiation of the planet and the asteroid belt. She took the Tiamat, that leaves the Bahamut if you want a runabout, and you'll need a runabout for firepower purposes."

The Andorian stood and pushed the PaDD across his desk toward Kate. "What personnel do you plan on taking lieutenant?"

Kate drew in a long breath. "Ensign Reid and myself, sir, with Ensign Mitchell as our third. We're looking at a recon mission only—weapons cold. Primary objective is to gather vessel identification and origin intel without engagement. The bogey may refuse communication, but with the rest of the crew deployed on priority ops, we lack the personnel for retrieval even with tractor capability. I'm requesting permission for a fly-by, not an intercept. Just enough to expand our intelligence profile on the craft, sir."

AJ's eyebrow arched high on his forehead, a mannerism he'd unconsciously picked up from his new girlfriend. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, visibly unsettled by Kate's rigid military bearing—a stark contrast to her usual casual demeanor. His gaze darted to Captain Shran, then back to Kate, his chin jutting toward her in bewilderment.

"Me wonderin' who dis woman be and what she do wit' Lieutenant Kono, Captain?" AJ asked.

Kono maintained her perfect parade rest stance, but her lips twitched at the corners as she dipped her head slightly, shoulders tensing with the effort to contain her laughter.

Shran contained his desire to laugh. Kate was certainly trying to play the role of a cut from the cloth officer. He didn't need to be buttered up, as the Admiral used to say. "I'm willing to give you a runabout lieutenant. You'll have more than enough to capture a shuttle. You'll even have the firepower to deal with most issues. I can give you other personnel if you like. Wyatt and Vi are available."

Kate' s posture remained rigid, her gaze fixed at a point just above Shran's right antenna. "Request permission to maintain operational security, sir. I propose a three-person team—myself and two intelligence officers—with Lieutenant Dalton providing real-time monitoring from central ops." Her voice carried a glimmer of hope. "Mission parameters: close-range sensor sweeps only, sir. Visual confirmation of hull markings. No interception, no hailing frequencies." She paused, then added, "Standard intelligence gathering protocols, Captain. Nothing more."

Shran shook his head. "Whoever that is, they aren't up to anything good. I want that ship boarded at the very least, and if practical captured. You can lead the team, but it isn't strictly an intel op. I want you to have either security or strategic operations with you. Your choice lieutenant. I understand your desire to keep this an intel operation, but this isn't an intel vessel, so you have to work well with the other departments here."

Kate's shoulders slumped a fraction of an inch as she exhaled, her perfect military posture finally cracking under the weight of Shran's decision. "Understood, sir," she replied, her voice clipped as she ran a thumb along the edge of her uniform sleeve. "I'll take Ensigns Smiter and Cockburn from security with us—they've both completed advanced tactical training for shuttle operations." Her dark eyes briefly met AJ's before returning to that fixed point above Shran's antenna.

"Excellent choice lieutenant. Glad you see things my way" the Andorian said with a small glint in his eye. "Now go grab the runabout and find out who these poorly trained operators are. Considering everything else going on, this might be the highlight of our little detour here." He moved back to his chair behind the desk, "Dismissed."

 

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