Planet Hell - The Briefing - Part I
Posted on Wed Feb 25th, 2026 @ 6:19pm by Captain Robert Burke & Lera Mel'nyk & Commander Vincent 'Vin' Salvatore & Lieutenant Marques Hunt & Lieutenant Kyra sh'Herhrisst & Lieutenant Nelar & Lieutenant Ryssa Dari & Lieutenant JG Maël "Gideon" Beauregard & Lieutenant JG Gianna De Luca
2,323 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Fabulae Explorationis
Location: USS Hecate - Briefing Room
Timeline: MD01 0800 hours
::ON::
[Captain's Ready Room - MD01 2200hrs]
Burke was reclined on his Ready Room sofa, a leg braced against the far arm, one arm folded behind his head, and the other holding a padd aloft as he read the latest reports. On the glass coffee table was a cooling, near-forgotten mug of coffee so absorbed was he in what he was reading. The political work of delivering the convoy safely to the Klingon Homeworld and cementing the rights of the Accords was now behind them, and all that was left to them was the work of exploration.
The Hecate’s first stop had been to Vorkon II to chart the basics of the planet before a more detailed follow-up could be done at some point in the future. It had proven to be an unremarkable system, though the charting of the gaseous anomalies that clustered the edge of the system had proven to be surprisingly interesting if the Science Department’s report had been anything to go by. Burke smiled to himself. He had longed for a posting like this for so long, and had found the idea of it so unlikely that he had only half allowed himself to dream of it. Exploration, new discoveries and civilisations. The stuff of Kirk, Archer, Whitford and Odengaard. What people get into Starfleet for, he thought with a warm feeling of satisfaction.
A priority chirp interrupted his reverie, and he craned his neck to look at his workstation and terminal. Sighing softly, he got to his feet, shaking his arm gently to get the feeling back into it, and moved to the luxurious desk that had been installed for him. Metcallan woods, rich in grain and stained a deep mahogany with some sort of dye … Burke had tuned out at that point of the explanation, having little need of knowing what it was made of, and had just been happy that it was functional.
Tapping in his personal code, he activated the terminal, whirringly brought to life the screen folded up and out of the workstation surface revealing the touchpad beneath. Resting his chin against the palm of his hand, Burke took a deep breath to focus on the message that had been received.
The seal that appeared on the screen was Starfleet Intelligence’s, and Burke’s deep breath was expelled as a sigh. Though the Hecate’s mission was exploratory in nature, he knew that there would be some work from some of the Federation’s more paranoid watchers. Drumming the fingers of his free hand he waited for the encryption to cycle, deciphering the message while keeping it from prying eyes. As a command-level member of Starfleet, he had his own encryption key memorised and inputted it as instructed.
As the message unspooled, Burke was pleasantly surprised. This ought not to be as complicated as he originally feared.
[Briefing Room – MD02 0800hrs]
Lining up his padds in a neat row, Burke sat at the head of his Briefing Room table, the large viewports that dominated the outer hull to his right. He was early to their daily briefing, but had wanted one more chance to read through the Starfleet Intelligence packet that would necessitate a change in their routine. Grasping his mug, he took a deep, appreciative sip of the strong-flavoured coffee he preferred, and waited for the remainder of his senior staff to roll in.
The door to the briefing room opened as Marques Hunt entered. When the Hecate first crossed into Klingon space, the flight control officer had kept his head on a swivel. But after the escort duties were completed, Hunt had relaxed a bit. And even was enjoying seeing a part of Klingon space, he assumed would never happen without the backing of a Federation fleet. "Captain, how are you this morning?"
He looked up and smiled at Hunt. It had been a week or so since the fight in the Great Hall but the Helmsman seemed little the worse for wear. 'Do you know Lieutenant, I never thought I'd find unexplored space more relaxing than cruising through known territory?' Burke chuckled, 'I'm very glad we've put the Empire behind us, and we're out exploring.'
Hunt returned the smile. "I find it very relaxing. When I joined Starfleet, this was exactly what I signed up for. Graduated from the Academy and found myself fighting the Empire at the border from jump. Starting to kind of feel like that young Ensign who saw life very differently."
'That's good - endless cold wars can be wearying on a person. Embracing Starfleet's original mission is what we're about, Lieutenant. I hope this good feeling persist. Just keep a wary eye out on any navigation anomalies we might encounter.'
"Will do Captain."
Ryssa walked in and smiled at the others. "Hi." Then she took a seat and set her PADD on the table in front of her.
The doors slid open once again but for a long moment, no one walked through.
Then, Maël "Gideon" Beauregard slipped through sideways, one hand pressed flat to the doorframe, the other juggling a data PADD, a mug of coffee that was not from the Mess Hall, and his uniform jacket which was thrown haphazardly over one shoulder. He paused just inside the Briefing Room, and smiled.
"Mornin', Cap'n," Gideon said, his voice dripping with Gulf Coast honey and slightly raw from sleep deprivation. "Lieutenant Hunt. Lieutenant Dari."
He found a place at the table on the other side of Ryssa and plopped his mug and PADD down while he began a struggle with the uniform jacket.
Ryssa stood. "Let me help you. They can be a pain at times." She held the end of one sleeve so he could more easily pull his arm out.
"Much obliged, Ryssa," he said, throwing her a grateful grin while he slipped his arm free of the jacket. "Been chasing a power failure deck-by-deck since oh-two-thirty hours."
The doors slid open again with a crisp, decisive whirr - this time without hesitation. Lieutenant Kyra sh’Herhrisst entered the Briefing Room with quiet confidence. The Andorian’s antennae were angled forward in mild alertness, their tips twitching once as her eyes swept the room: exits, sight lines, personnel. Habit, not anxiety.
If Gideon looked like he’d wrestled sleep and lost, Kyra looked like she’d filed a complaint against it and won. She took an empty chair, inwardly hoping she wasn't encroaching on another's territory and greeted those assembled. "Captain...Lieutenants."
Vincent walked in with a smile on his face and tall mug in his hand. Their recent encounter with the Klingons suddenly prompted him to crave a steamed Raktajino. Under his arm was a PADD with an Intelligence emblem on the back. As he entered, he locked eyes with the Captain and immediately nodded his head in greeting. "Captain.. Good Morning? That is both a question and greeting so feel free to reply as you see fit."
'It's a good morning, Ehxo,' Burke returned his smile. 'Five days clear of Klingon space, and I'm sure we can agree we're all the more relaxed for it.'
He made his way to an empty seat as he took another sip from his mug. As he placed the PADD face down and pulled out the chair, Vincent raised a brow to Gideon. "Gideon?! You look like you spent the night in a chair, facing the door, with a gun on your lap. You okay?" He said as he took a seat and chuckled slightly.
Gideon shifted in his chair and ran a hand through his hair, suddenly feeling self-conscious. He flashed a crooked grin at Vincent. "I'm fine. Never let a little lack of sleep keep a man from his duty. Not unless the Universe's gonna come knockin' on your door, which it ain't--yet."
Settling back, he took a sip of his coffee. "Ya'll look too damned clean and rested for this early hour."
Dr. Nelar walked in dressed notably different than the rest of the crew. She was in the middle of a shift in Sickbay and still wearing her white uniform scrubs and a blue lab coat. She glanced around the room and noticed that almost all had arrived.
"Greetings," she stated simply before taking an empty seat on the far end of the table. She found that as a medical officer, mission briefings rarely required her immediate input, therefore she logically positioned herself away from the Captain and First Officer to give the officers who were more closely related to command decisions a more direct line to the commanding officers.
Gia, it appeared, was the last one to enter the briefing room when she entered and looked around to see everyone already assembled there. Her normal put together look wasn't looking as she was missing a coffee in her hand. Not a good start for her.
"Good morning everyone," she said as she took a seat near Nelar. "Apologies for being late, it's been a bit of a morning."
Gideon leaned back in his chair, studying Gia as if he were trying to solve a mystery. "Now hold on... you came in late and unarmed. No PADD, no coffee. That just ain't like you, Gia." He turned to the Andorian security chief and winked at her. "Kyra, get your phaser ready. I reckon we've got ourselves an imposter."
Gia grimaced at the remark but huffed a laugh out regardless, "You're quite right, Lieutenant: I haven't had a coffee yet because the machine broke and I haven't had a chance to swing by the mess to get some." She looked at the desk and frowned, "And apparently I forgot the padd too.. You're a lot more observant than me today."
Kyra’s antennae tipped forward a fraction, the Andorian equivalent of a raised eyebrow. She regarded Gia for a long beat, cool eyes narrowing just enough to suggest she was enjoying the moment far more than protocol required.
“Mm.” Her voice was smooth, edged with dry amusement. “Late. No PADD. No caffeine.” She folded her arms across her chest and leaned back slightly in her chair. “Lieutenant Beauregard may be onto something.”
One antenna angled toward Gideon without her even looking at him. “Though if this is an imposter, it’s a very bold one. Walking into a room full of senior officers without proper camouflage.” Her gaze flicked back to Gia. “Or coffee.” A faint smirk touched her lips — subtle, controlled, but unmistakably there.
Sitting there, po-faced, Burke casually ignored the comments coming Gia's way. The man fully knew why she was discombobulated this morning, but said nothing. He shuffled his padds and cleared his throat diplomatically.
'Now that we're all here, you'll notice a change to the previously circulated schedule,' Burke began as he took his place at the head of the table. He settled back in his chair and steepled his fingers. 'We were sent a transmission by Starfleet Intelligence last night. They have requested a team be sent out to survey the Beta Aguilon system, a priority.' Burke looked around the room, 'unfortunately, the Hecate's timetable will necessitate that we use one of the two warp-capable shuttles that we have.'
'Starfleet Intelligence have a specific interest in the third set of planets in the system, Beta Aguilon Three,' Burke continued didactically as he threw up a scan of the planetary system, the third set of planets highlighted in red, yellow and green. Based on long-range scans and some intelligence intercepted, they feel that Beta Aguilon Gamma, the green planet, is suited for a future base. They have assured me they do not believe there will be a problem and that this will be a run of the mill survey, similar to the one Hecate conducted around Vorkon two days ago.'
"Sounds exciting. But any idea how the Klingons might feel about planning to build a future base in their backyard?" Hunt inquired.
Gideon nodded along with Marques' question. "I'm not sure how the Klingons'll take it," he said, his voice calm and easy, "but if someone showed up in my backyard talkin' 'bout buildin' a house, I'd at least expect a heads-up."
Pursing his lips, Burke nodded, 'it'll be something relayed to Starfleet Intelligence as part of the write up. I think we all know the Klingons won't be thrilled at the prospect of a base in their backyard, Accords or no. And we know they have a formidable intelligence-gathering service. So, secret Starfleet Intelligence base or not, it's wise to assume they will eventually learn of it.'
'Thankfully, that will be for others to decide on how to approach the Klingons regarding this. Our job is simply to do the initial close summary and report our findings to Ehs-Aye.'
Kyra’s sh'Hehrisst's antennae snapped up a fraction at Burke’s phrasing. She didn’t interrupt—just let the words land—then exhaled once through her nose.
“Less than thrilled?” she echoed dryly.
Her eyes cut to the highlighted system, then back to the Captain. “Sir… are we trying to test spring ice? If the Klingons ... misunderstand, we could be in a wee bit of a tight spot, eh?”
[To be Continued ...]
::OFF::
Captain Robert Burke
Commanding Officer
USS Hecate
Commander Vincent Salvatore
Executive & Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Hecate
Lieutenant Kyra sh'Herhrisst
Chief Security Officer
USS Hecate
Lieutenant Nelar
Chief Medical Officer
USS Hecate
Lieutenant Marquis Hunt
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Hecate
Lieutenant Juno Jones
Chief Engineer
USS Hecate
Lieutenant Ryssa Dari
Chief Science Officer
USS Hecate
Lieutenant Nelar
Chief Medical Officer
USS Hecate
Lieutenant JG Maël "Gideon" Beauregard
Chief Operations Officer
USS Hecate
Lieutenant JG Gianna De Luca
Chief Counsellor
USS Hecate
Ensign Shanice Winters
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Hecate
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