======Shane's office, Fleet level area, SB
234: UNITY ======
"No, Admiral, you can't keep them" Shane said somewhat
agitated. This conversation was going on for quarter an hour
already and they seemed not to be able to make a point.
"Don't tell me what I can or can't do, Commodore"
Rear Admiral LaGrand replied in with a raised voice. "I
damn outrank you and those pirates were caught by my ship.
So it's my very damn right to confiscate their ship and
lock them in my smallest brig!"
The issue both man were so agitated about was piracy. Like
in many conflicts around the galaxy, even this
Romulan/Federation/Erassian war attracted many lets say …
less civilized individuals. Mercenaries, thieves, burglars,
soldiers of fortune, bounty hunters and pirates of all kind
… from ship wreck breakers up to real pirates, all of them
were more or less present in the sector.
Just few hours ago a pirate ship attacked a civilian
transporter in the open space, but luckily for the civvie
ship, there was a Starfleet ship under cloak passing nearby.
It was LaGrand's ship and the pirate ship was no match for
a sovereign class Starfleet cruiser. LaGrand crippled the
pirate ship and took the pirate crew, 30 individuals of
various races, into custody. Report about this accident was
send to the UNITY and UNITY's JAG department immediately
send a request of transferring the pirates to the UNITY for
standing a trial.
From the history course Shane remembered that back in the
early 21st century there was a brief period of piracy in the
Indian Ocean back on Earth where a jurisdiction and law
problem made it nearly impossible to deal with the pirates.
Law system of many of the countries of Earth's 21st
century countries had little to none legislative dealing
with piracy outside their territorial waters and most of the
pirate raids happened in the high waters of Somalia – a
country that was for long years in decay, with no official
government.
He was glad that Starfleet had strong legislative regarding
piracy and this sector was well within Federation territory
and jurisdiction. Acts of piracy were well within Starfleet
power to deal with, but there seemed to be quite a dispute
(between the two flag officers present) WHO exactly was the
right one to deal with the pirate guys.
"I am not telling you what to do, Admiral" Shane replied
somewhat angrily, "but this sector is under Special Forces
jurisdiction and under command of SSF 1st Task Force. You
are neighter Special Forces officer, nor the CO of the 1st
Task Force. I am the one holding that office and I say that
the prisoners NEED to be transferred to the UNITY to stand a
regular trial. Until declared guilty, they can't be
imprisoned … only taken into custody.
====== 20 minutes later ======
LaGrand grunted: "All right then, send a ship to pick them
up, but be assured that I will bring this issue to Starfleet
Command as a complaint" With that, LaGrand slammed his
console and ended the connection.
Shane leaned back in his seat and sighed. LaGrand was a
complicated person. He was a fine strategist and performed
well as a fleet leader, but sometimes took things
personally, like every issue not going according his will
was a personal attack.
Finally the conversation was over (even if not all settled),
but Shane was finally free to leave his office for the short
holiday break they've planned with Rangi. There
'should' be a window of a few days with less stress and
issues to address … and Shane wanted to use them, before
the first reports from Bren's or Chisulo's task force
will arrive.
Rangi and he prepared a nice trip to the Azure see … for
fishing and bathing and generally enjoying free time. Shane
knew that little Martin was particularly thrilled for the
holiday and he was all decided to make it up for the time he
already wasted … since Rangi and Martin should already be
on Aeran.
Leaving his office, Shane needed little time to arrive in
their quarters. As expected, Rangi and Martin were already
gone. Not wasting time with a shower, Shane quickly changed
cloth into civilian one, feeling rather strange without his
uniform. Taking a shoulder bag with him, he was prepared to
leave, when he noticed a message on a private channel for
him. It was Rangi saying: ""Hello darling. The
communication officer told me there's a malfunction and but
don't worry, we're fine...no problems. I hope it won't
delay you too long. The place is absolutely lovely. I'm so
glad we decided on the sea instead of the mountains. We'll
see you soon.... Love you."
Shane nodded to himself. None reported to him about a
malfunction yet, but still there were others to take care
about malfunctions. The point was that both Rangi and Martin
were all right and enjoyed the sea. {Hmm} Shane thought,
{when did we talk about mountains?} he asked himself.
Shrugging he dismissed the thought and left the quarters.
His four marine guards joined him and the entire group
walked towards one of the transporter rooms in the fleet
level area. Shane was not using public ones cause the
security risk … it was far more easy to attack the SSF 1st
TF CO in a public area then on the fleet level and to be
honest … the public transporter rooms were a bit off hand.
There was a bit of a confrontation with Shane's security
detail chief, who was very unhappy about the Commodore
leaving the station without any security escort, but Shane
expressed himself VERY clearly about rank and orders. His
four guards stayed in the transporter room while Shane
walked over to the transporter platform. He was about to ask
the Transportation chief to energize, when a call
interrupted him …
+TAPS+ Lieutenant Pakosii to Commodore Guzman +
Shane sighed. His comm. Badge was in his pocket since he
could not leave the station without a way to reach him
quickly in a case of emergency. He pulled it out and tapped
it.
+TAPS+ Guzman here. What's so urgent Lieutenant? +
+TAPS+ I am sorry to interrupt your leave, sir, but there
has been an accident in a public transporter room +
+TAPS+ Is security there? + Shane asked.
+TAPS+ Yes, sir. But the issue is that it's the
transporter room from where Commander Summers and your son
beamed to the planet. +
+TAPS+ I see, but Rangi contacted me saying that they are
all right +
+TAPS+ It's a bit strange, sir, cause there are a lot of
wounded there and the transporter chief was found dead, shot
by a phaser and according the logs, Commander Summers and
your son beamed AFTER the accident +
Shane's internal alarm went red. Rangi would not leave
with unattended injured nearby and another question was WHO
beamed them down when the transporter chief was dead?
Shane tapped his badge: +TAPS+ Guzman to Summers +
No reply.
+TAPS+ Guzman to Summers +
No reply.
====== End of log ======
Commodore Shane Guzman
CO, SSF 1st Task Force
CO, SB 234: UNITY
