Getting Downey to Business

Posted on Sun Nov 10th, 2024 @ 8:13pm by Colonel Zachary Aeyers & Commander Craig Downey & Lieutenant JG Terry Chan & Petty Officer 1st Class Elizabeth Davis & Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Fletcher

2,709 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Boys of Summer
Location: Base Commander's Office, Santiago Bay Facility
Timeline: MD2

ON

"Mornin'," Zach called as Jeff entered his office.

"Hmm-mrnrn," Jeff mumbled, rubbing his brow. He knew of all people, he didn't have to pretend with Zach that it hadn't been an exhausting night. "Is it too early for coffee liquers?"

Zach began to rifle through his draws. He pulled out a small, flat bottle and held it up, "I've got this old bottle of bourbon... wait... how did that get in here, there's no such thing as old bourbon."

"Oh, that's a brand I thought you might like, it's actually called "Old Bourbon"," Jeff explained. "They claim to date back to the McCoy family of nineteenth century Kentucky hills, but some people also say the Knudson's started it up thirty years ago in Sherman Oaks. Hell of a smooth finish either way."

"Damn straight," Zach grinned. "With what we've got bearing down on us it might be worth it."

Terry Chan entered a few moments later, ushered through by Liz who was preparing the morning's reports at her desk outside. The Colonel went to the replicator, and looked across his office to the junior officer who looked a little like he'd been called to see the headmaster.

"Morning, Mister Chan. Coffee?" Zach asked.

"Yes, thank you, Colonel. Black coffee, double strong, double sweet." Terry Chan requested.

"Coffee, Jeff?"

"Hey, Terry. You know I never say no to another coffe." Jeff waved dismissively, knowing Zach knew his order. "Long black in a mug. And if a shot of liquer accidentally gets spilt in, I won't grass."

Issuing the trio's order to the replicator, Zach waited a moment before the hot beverages shimmered into existence inside the slot. Bringing the beverages to a coffee table in the middle of some sofas, he set the drinks out and invited the two officers to have a seat. Aeyers took a seat himself, holding his cup and allowing it to warm his hands. "Lieutenant Chan, I appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to meet with us, I know you guys have your hands full down in tech ops. You're co-ordinating the boys doing the buoys, aren't you?"

"Amongst many other projects, sir," Terry Chan began. "And... and they're not all boys, sir, there is one female amongst them a marine, uh... 'Brown and Beige' or something?"

"Of course," Aeyers smiled. He sat forward a little, "Listen, given the time crunch, I figure we'll get down to it. I asked both of you here to get a bit of an insight into an officer you both worked with, a Commander Craig Downey. He was the commander of the outpost here in Santiago Bay before we opened the larger facility. Lieutenant, as I understand it you would've served with him when you were a technician. Colonel Fletcher, you would've dealt with him when you were the Commissioner of the SBPD. What sort of a man is he?"

"That's a name I haven't heard in a while," Jeff sipped the hot coffee. "Didn't think much of him at all really. Spent too much time reading intel and not enough time doing anything about it. Was a pretty shoddy CO but when the Breen weren't a problem, it wasn't a problem. I always thought he was just a bit of a weirdo, then later as the refugee crisis got worse, he could be a real asshole. After that poor Breen boy killed himself, that followed Downey like a shadow, and fair enough too."

Zach listened, nodding thoughtfully throughout, "Indeed. From what I gathered when I arrived here, that seemed to be the vibe. Lieutenant?"

"I didn't have a whole lot to do with him, admittedly. I wasn't an intelligence officer, so he didn't want a lot to do with me or my colleagues in the engineering department. Not even the officers. Have you talked to Silon?"

"He's on assignment, otherwise he'd be here," Aeyers answered.

"Ah, of course," Terry Chan nodded. He continued. "From my side of things Downey was fine. I do remember that my Senior Chief and the Chief Engineer weren't fond of his command style, though they appreciated that his lack of interest allowed them to get work done in a timeframe they were comfortable with, and resources were allocated as they needed them."

"Interesting. I certainly appreciate that you wouldn't have spent a lot of time with him as a junior non-com, but I did think I'd ask." Aeyers paused for a moment, he could sense Terry Chan was holding back, diplomatically measuring his words as he'd probably been instructed in officer candidate school. Regardless, he wanted to prod further. "Gentlemen, is there any specific events or instances that would speak to his character?"

"Speaking bluntly," Jeff began, as if he ever minced his words, "incompetence was one thing, sitting on his hands neck deep in intel while everyone else did the work around him. He was only half-present as a CO, but then when it came to the refugees he wasn't just absent, he was an asshole. I don't blame people holding him accountable for that Breen boy's suicide, I do as well. That camp might as well have been a prison as far as he was concerned."

"Yes, when I first arrived back here I saw it for myself. One had to question how a place like that on a Federation World could've become the way it was; parentless kids wandering around weeping, injured people not receiving care. He was lucky the Breen were an aggressive adversary. We're luckier that information didn't make it over the border." Aeyers agreed, momentarily reliving that experience of touring the detention facility with Jeff and a number of other officers five years ago. "Lieutenant, do you have anything to add?"

"I did some computer work for him and was on-call for his tech needs," Terry Chan recalled. "There was a time where he flooded his personal database with so many intelligence reports that he crashed the LCARS system in the old command building. It took us days to undo the damage. Another time, Starfleet revoked his security access after he requested one too many sensitive documents. Silon and I had to convince Starfleet Intelligence to reinstate it, though there was some undertaking he needed to undertake-- something about some energy wave they were trialling back in the 2280s when the Federation was doing some really funky stuff, y'know, before all those restrictions got put in place."

"Yeah, every advancement seemed to be an excuse for the Romulans or Klingons to turn it into a weapon," harrumphed Aeyers, "It's interesting you both mention his fascination with intelligence, given recent events. Downey has been in contact with Liz recently, attempting to get an audience with Jeff and myself. He claims he has information... proof... allegedly... regarding the Breen intentionally causing the Joclaron Anomaly out at the border."

"Does he now?" Jeff scoffed, but the weight of that claim couldn't be ignored. "Shit. I don't have a lot of time for that man, but if you asked me straight... I don't buy that he'd make something like that up. There'd be no sense in it, and he's an ass but he's not a fool. As immersed in intel as he was, I could believe he found something that might say that. Now, whether it's true is another story. If he's cooked this up to try and pull a Maxwell, clear any stain on his name as a a new 'expert on the enemy', I could buy that. Or someone feeding him bogus intel. Could be more to this than it seems. What worries me more, is what if he's right? This could be all people need to cry for another conflict, and Downey, he... he could be a loose cannon. We need time to look at this before we deal with him directly. Has Liz answered, what's your read on this?"

"I had Mitch Skennerton run his name, it looks like he boarded a transport six days ago from Deep Space 9 and he's due here today," Zach announced, his voice tinged with annoyance. He looked between the two men, "What can I expect?"

"Damn," Jeff scratched his head with dissatisfaction. "If he's anything like before, expect him to be a little... erratic. If he's sure on this, I bet he'll be pretty intense about it, hard to reason with even. Anything that doesn't interest him may as well not exist, but if he gets fixated, he can get pretty worked up. It's those eyes."

"When he's looking at you and he's-- it's... like," Terry Chan paused, his own eyes widening to imitate the Commander's intense gaze, "Ooooh."

"It sounds like I'm in for an interesting time, then," Aeyers sighed. "From what you've both said, it sounds like I'll be hearing what he has to say no matter what. But I do agree, if he's this determined, he's obviously got something solid. Ultimately, if it concerns the safety of the AO, this planet and our people, then we owe it to him. Lieutenant, thank you for joining us, I do appreciate the insights, and if you think of anything else, don't hesitate to let us know. I won't keep you any longer, I know you've got a full plate."

"Thank you, sir. Anytime." Terry Chan nodded as he stood. "If there's nothing else."

"No, nothing else. Thanks again, Mister Chan. You're dismissed," Zach said. As Terry Chan left, Aeyers seemed to almost be pressed under a weight as the restrictions around intelligence security had been lifted without a junior officer in the room. "I have a feeling Downey is going to bring us something we don't want to hear. Everything tells me he's credible. Skennerton also found communications logs from his home and workplace on Earth to Outpost D'vir, so it seems like he's even been in communication with the Romulans. Though, the record shows he was using a Code 46 protocol."

"Forty-six?" Jeff rubbed his beard. "For messages on D'Vir? I don't like where that line of thought is headed. We might have to hear him out, just to see what the hell he's been up to. I say it'd pay to keep our wits about us still with whatever he brings, but... I agree, I don't see this being bogus. At least, I'm sure he's certain he's credible. When can we expect him?"

"Not long apparently, the transport may have already arrived," Zach replied. "This could well open a can of worms for us, though, Jeff. If he's involved himself with the Romulans, I want to be on the front foot of this. We'll prep the Missouri and take a run out to D'Vir if we need to do a bit of poking around. Up for an excursion to see our friend Proconsul D'ayv?"

"Always," Jeff replied, hoping he didn't sound too sarcastic. "But maybe after whatever Downey has for us, meeting the Proconsul will be a Swiss watch. Then again, maybe this coffee did need a little Old Bourbon."

"Agreed," Zach smiled, raising his mug. Then, he let out a long sigh. "I don't know what it is about this, Jeff, but this whole thing has had me losing sleep since Downey first got in contact. I don't know what it is."

"The implications to this could be..." Jeff gestured vaguely. "I can't even fathom the scope right now. People might get antsy us even entertaining the idea, proof or not. I only just found out, but something doesn't sit right about this."

"You're right. Maybe... maybe its just the idea that something has happened here that we don't know about," Aeyers took another sip of his coffee thoughtfully, "Perhaps right under our noses."

"If it did happen like he thinks, how did we have no warning?" Jeff said exasperatedly. "Even now, we only hear about it like this. Real or fake, I don't like this."

Zach nodded in thoughtful agreement. As Aeyers took another sip of his coffee, a chirp came through on internal coms.

"Ops to Colonel Aeyers," Houghton, the operations watch officer, called over the speaker.

"Go ahead, Lieutenant."

"Colonel, we've had an emergency report come in from orbital control. There's been an incident aboard the transport ship Sarajevo."

"The Sarajevo?" Aeyers shot a look of concern toward Jeff.

"Yessir. A fire has broken out in the crew quarters. It appears they've contained it, but they have reported three injured and four are unaccounted for. We've sent damage control teams to assist," Houghton replied.

"Good. Keep me updated, Lieutenant. Aeyers out." The Colonel sat forward, his face awash with concern, "Downey has come in on the Sarajevo."

"Then this doesn't sound like an accident," Jeff rose to his feet. "We should get down there, and double the security."

|USS Sarajevo, Guest Quarters
|Subsquently

The decks of the Sarajevo were awash with personnel running to and fro. Some personnel in engineering jumpsuits moved with haste, extinguishers in hand, ducking between passengers running the other way. Other members of the crew called orders to one another to lock down sections to contain the spread of an inferno that had broken out.

Zach and Jeff worked as a pair to push their way against the tide of the crowd. They shouldered their way to a middle-aged officer in a command red uniform, who was directing much of the effort. He turned from his damage control console, recognising both officers immediately, and they him.

"Commander," Jeff flagged the man's attention, catching his breath after rushing to the site. "Good work locking this place down."

"Colonels," Commander Quandale Dingle nodded. He looked at the damage control board, issued a few orders and gave them another moment of his attention.

"What's the situation?" Jeff cut to the chase, seeing the commander was weighted by work. Around them, the relief effort seemed to have the situation in hand, quickly and diligently securing the flames. In the aftermath of an event like this, even at maximum efficiency, there was always chaos. "We heard the news, how is everyone? Do we know what happened here?"

"It looks like a faulty EPS conduit exploded from inside a replicator in the guest quarters," Dingle stated, directing another fire control team toward the incident. "No one reported dead, but we've got three injured; two are technicians from your base, another was one of our stewards who got caught up in the explosion. They've been transferred to your sickbay. My first officer has mustered the passengers aboard and is doing a headcount; we've got five passengers missing."

"They are?" Aeyers asked.

Dingle ummed and ahhed as he pursued his reports, "A trio of Bolian instrumentalists; Boody, Boppa and Rishy--"

"Commander Craig Downey?" Aeyers interrupted.

Commander Quandale Dingle continued despite the interjection, "A warp field specialist, ah, a Crewman Wak and ahh an administrative officer from Earth--"

Aeyers rolled his eyes, "Commander Craig-"

"Downey, yes," Dingle nodded. "It was his quarters the EPS conduit exploded in."

"Just a moment," Aeyers said to the flatstick Dingle as he took a sidebar to Jeff, "He can't be serious. Downey's quarters?"

"That's no accident," Jeff gritted his teeth. "These poor people, caught up in whatever this is. We need to find him, because someone sure as hell doesn't want us to. Are we gonna be able to get anything out of this guy?"

"You certainly won't get a saucy Flaxian Badger Casserole, I'll tell you that," a voice called from behind. Downey, smiling, but singed, noted the stunned expressions of the officers. He dusted the carbon and grit from his uniform and extended his hand two the two Colonels. "I guess that's four missing now, Commander Dingle."

"Why haven't you mustered at the evac point? W-where have you been?" Dingle stammered. Damage control specialists still rushing by the group.

"That's none of your concern," Downey announced self-assuredly as he shook hands with the Colonels. The Commander tugged on his uniform tunic to straighten it, and clapped his hands together. "Gentleman, I could do with a shower, a change of clothes and that casserole. I trust you've got everything under control here, shipmaster?"

"Of course," Quandale Dingle returned with a glare.

"Well, I suggest we get ourselves out of the way, gentleman," Downey smiled. "Your place, or mine?"

OFF

 

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