189: Loose Cannon

By TC Blane and Zanh Liis
80305.19
Following Final Jeopardy


-=Bridge, USS Gauntlet=-


TC sat in the center seat of the captured starship Gauntlet. Captain Zanh had made the displaced crew of the Executor available to man the starship for the journey home, excluding the command staff. TC insisted that only Sera officers run the bridge and take on the department head positions. He did not fully trust the TI staff at this point, and of course neither did Zanh Liis.

Of course the other task that was laid before him was to tear the ship apart for information. They needed to find out what Spangler was up to at 626. He had hoped that Avery Breaux would be made available to him to assist but Zanh had refused, saying that other projects took priority at the moment. She also refused Blane access to Dengar, whom she had immediately set on the task of trying to put the Alchemy back together.

So it looked like it fell to him to do a lot of the detective work.

“Mr. Blakeslee you have the bridge.”

Zander nodded and approached the center seat as TC stood and walked into the ready room.

The doors slid shut and he made a bee line for the admiral’s desk. He sat in the plush chair and pulled up the computer monitor.

“Computer display Admiral's logs, Beginning three weeks prior to today’s date.”

^ Unable to comply. Log files are encrypted. ^

TC sighed. “Fine.”

“Accept access code Blane four nine zero. Special Operations clearance Omega.”

There was a moment’s pause. ^ Administration code accepted. Logs are being displayed. ^

“OK then.” TC pulled the chair closer to the desk and rested his chin on his fist as he set about reading the logs.


=^= Three hours Later =^=


TC sat back and rubbed his eyes. He picked up his coffee mug and drained the last drops of the long since gone cold beverage. He placed the mug back onto the desk and leaned back into the chair, folding his arms across his chest. This whole incident had been a big puzzle with several pieces missing, until now. Now he was starting to put the pieces together and he did not like was the picture was turning out to be.

He tapped his badge. “Commander Blane to the bridge. Get me Captain Zanh and feed it in here please. Oh, and make it a secure channel.”

[Aye sir.] a moment later, [She's requesting audio only, Commander]

"Understood. Put her through."

[Good. . .morning?] Zanh rasped. Apparently he'd woken her, but he needed her attention right away, no matter the time. [I take it you're not calling to ask me to breakfast.]

"No, Captain." TC answered quickly.

[Damn. I was hoping for breakfast.] She sounded as if she were stretching her arms over her head in an attempt to wake up, then sighed. [What have you found, Thomas?]

“I’ve just been reading the mind of either a genius or a madman. It looks like Commander Salvek initial finding were correct. They were working on transwarp technology, but were not able to get it to work. The debris that we found was from a research platform called Celestial. But it was not destroyed because of an accident, the Gauntlet blew it up.”

Zanh's next remark was very short, very loud, and very profane. After a moment of silence she spoke again. [You have proof?]

"I would not have brought this to you if I didn't, Captain."

[I know, I know, sorry. I had to ask.] Zanh muttered, hating this new piece of information vehemently. [Just tell me this- our initial reports indicating that there was nothing but machinery on that station. . .were they right, too?] She hated to think that anyone may have actually died there, at the hands of the people they thought would always protect them.

TC paused. “I don’t believe so. There is a log entry here, and I quote. ‘ I’ve assembled only my most loyal of officers, those who share and understand my vision. The vision of a better Starfleet, a strong Starfleet. We have liberated the Gauntlet and have finished transferring the logs from Celestial. What I do now I do because I must, the men understand this. They are loyal.’” TC sighed. “It goes on rambling. It looked like his logs go back as far as three years.”

[Damn it. Three years ago the Alchemy plans were still in hidden in a vault at Command,] Zanh observed. [No wonder Spangler was so upset and came after it. Salvek's masterpiece threw a very effective wrench in his works.]

“Captain there is something else. I began looking at the log files that are from the station, the project was sanctioned and funded by both Special Ops and Temporal Investigations. A day before Spangler’s log entry there was a communication from TI command ordering Spangler to shut down operations and prepare to hand over all research material. It was deemed that his project was to be canceled because a new working and viable solution had presented itself. Can you guess who’s name is attached to the message?”

[Don't tell me, let me guess.] Zanh replied, banging her head against the wall in her quarters as she spoke, just once. [Jonas Vox.] Zanh asked, hoping deep down that at least her name wasn't the one that had been affixed to the communiqué.

"Jonas Vox." TC confirmed.

“But what there is more. They were dispatching a Special Ops ship retrieve the research materials and staff from the Celestial. Guess who was the Captain in charge of performing that task.”

[Gee whiz, let me see? Oh, I don't know. Captain Do’Chal perhaps?]

“Affirmative. I think we were bait to catch a loose cannon. I think I was drafted back into Spec Ops because they did not know who was under Spangler’s control and they needed someone onboard with my ‘skill set’ to counter Spangler’s Spec Ops training. Both Vox and Do’Chal have been orchestrating this whole encounter in the hopes of luring their rogue admiral out of hiding with the thought of getting his hands on the Alchemy.”

His voice gave away his growing anger. “You see not only is he on the loose but the information he has in his head could cripple both Spec Ops and TI operations for years. They were hoping that we would catch him but they did not count on the Gauntlet being so heavily modified.”

He slammed his fist on the desk. “I know how they think, Captain. They could not tell us about the mission or Spangler because they do not trust anyone. Spangler is almost a legend to some in my former field. They did not know who to trust.”

[They should have trusted us." Zanh replied sadly. [Now, matters are worse.] She inhaled and exhaled slowly. [What is your gut telling you now, Mr. Blane? What do we do with this information?] She would have had to admit, were he looking her in the eye and not merely speaking to her over an audio transmission, that she was hoping to use this development to the advantage of freeing him from that choking black collar around his neck.

TC paused, thinking of the options before them. He could think of only one that was suitable. “We use it, Captain. We hold it like a flame to their feet.” He leaned back in the chair. “Time to turn on the lights, and let the cockroaches run for cover.”


Commander TC Blane
Second Officer/Chief of Operations
USS Serendipity
Currently Commanding the USS Gauntlet


and

-=/\=- Captain Zanh Liis
Commanding Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012