Observation Lounge

“Before the others arrive, I wanted to talk with you,” said Captain Kirby.

Roger Allen nodded and sat in his usual place to the captain’s right.

“While you and Lori were debriefing on Commander Perry’s ship, did he mention anything about either of you transferring to Intelligence?”

“No.  Why would he?”

“That’s interesting.”  Kirby paused to reflect on that.  “Before you made it back, Perry told me it was a done deal that Lori was being ordered to transfer.”

“What?  That’s ridiculous,” said Allen.  “She told me she was done doing undercover work.  What can we do to stop this?”

“Hok already did.”

“Captain?”  Allen seemed to be confused.

“While Perry was here, Hok came in and told him Lori wasn’t transferring.  While Perry was ready to charge him with insubordination, Hok mentioned the Lorica Operation.  Perry looked like he saw a ghost.  He backed down, said Lori could stay, and he was now an enemy.  I thought he was going to wet himself.”  Kirby chuckled.

“What’s the Lorica Operation?”

“I don’t know.  I looked into it, but it’s classified.  I’m wondering who got the alert that someone tried accessing the file.”

Allen hmphed.  “How did Hok know about the op or the transfer orders?” said Allen.

“That’s where it gets interesting.  Haia received an encrypted message from Earth that was replying to an encrypted message she sent when Perry first told us about the Lappa moon mission.”

“They didn’t tell you more than that?”  As captain, why didn’t you order them to tell you the whole story?”

“Hok said it would be better for everyone to not press the matter,” said Kirby.

“And you accepted that?”

“For now.”

Roger shook his head.  “I don’t know….”

Kirby shrugged.  “At this point I’m okay with it, but that could change.”

“I don’t like being left out of the loop,” said Roger.  “They’re expecting us to trust them when they’re withholding information the CO and XO should know.”

“I understand, Rog, but as long as things are quiet, I can take a step back.”

“As long as that step doesn’t hurt us in the long run,” said Allen.  “It may just have been bluster, but an enemy in Intelligence could be bad.”

Before Kirby could keep the conversation going, the door to the lounge opened and Saunders, Ohtani, and Iziraa entered.  They greeted their captain and XO and took their places at the table.

Kirby gave Allen a to-be-continued glance.

“All right, listen carefully.  This comes from the highest levels of Starfleet and the Federation,” said Kirby.  “The official report of what just happened is the Breen found old Jem’Hadar ships from the war and used them to try to gain some territory.  Any mention of the true nature of the Dominion fleet or what happened is strictly classified.  You’re not to speak of it or our casino mission.  As far as you know, it was some rogue Breen.”

Kirby expected someone would say something, but the room was silent.

“All right then.  We received our next assignment.”  Kirby sighed deeply.  “We’re escorting the freighter Luna Light to provide humanitarian aid along the border.”

Saunders chuckled.  Iziraa grunted, her antennae moving in slow circles.  Ohtani showed no reaction.

“Once we rendezvous with the freighter, we’ll get our destination.  Doctor Weaver will be taking some well-deserved leave time and will rejoin us when we report back to Starbase 93.  The EMH will handle primary medical duties.  Questions?”

Nothing.

“Anything to report?” said Kirby.

“Engineering has been running diagnostics and checking ship systems,” said Saunders.  “Nothing to report beyond routine maintenance and adjustments.  We’re good to go.”

“Thank you, Nick.  Iziraa?”

“Tactical and weapons are ready, sir.  We could take down a Borg sphere,” said Iziraa with a smile.

“I expect nothing less, Lieutenant.”

“Haia?”  Kirby wondered what amusing thing she might say.

“Nothing to report, sir.  If we ever do an actual science mission, I’ll have something for you.”

Kirby saw Saunders wince.  “Thank you, Haia.  We’ll get you something to do soon enough.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Okay, that’s it.  Return to your stations.”

Allen had a me-too look on his face..

Kirby nodded.  There would be time to talk later.