Reassignment

Posted on Sat Sep 5th, 2020 @ 5:19am by Lieutenant Basil Dampfish & Captain Dick Sprague

Mission: Nothing To Fear...
Location: Starbase 57, Food Court

ON:

{Starbase 57, Food Court}

Day two.

He watched the Captain eating salad vigorously, observing carefully as Sprague plowed through his fourth one. Not being close enough to hear, he could understand the gist of the conversation with a passing stranger by the slump of his shoulders as the people walked away.

Day three. Another salad, eaten less vigorously.

Day four. Another salad.

Now might be good.

"Coffee, hot, excelsa half-roast," he said as he passed a replicator on the way to the Captain's table. Collecting the cup, he sat at the table.

"Captain?"

Sprague looked up at the tall, slender human. "Ah, that's me." He pushed the salad plate away dejectedly.

"I was just assigned to the USS Wayfarer. Lieutenant Basil Dampfish, Chief Tactical Officer." He extended his hand, shook briefly. Sipping his coffee, he grimaced slightly. "They just cannot get the flavors done right, sadly." The Captain just glared.

"Captain, I am a fixer. My stays on ships have been limited to correcting… situations. Might I ask if you know why the Wayfarer might need a fixer?"

"Beats me," Sprague replied as he took another nibble of the salad.

"If you don't mind--" Sprague looked at him sharply. Basil held up his hand. "I am just trying to gather more information on the situation, sir. I would be out of place if I did not."

"What makes you think I know anything about the Wayfarer?"

"Sir, you are the starbase's Personnel Movement Administration Officer, right? Wouldn't you know about transfers to ships passing by?"

"Here, take a look at this, it might have something for you," Sprague replied as his slid a PADD across the table. "Drop it off at my office when you're done." With that the Captain left.

Basil flipped through the LCARS interface on the PADD, his coffee ignored and cooling. Transfers from starbase to starship, cargo mainfests, personnel assignments. Hmmm. No awards or reclassifications. Lots of good information here. Ah - Wayfarer. He paused as he pulled out a personal PADD, setting it carefully next to the Captain's. "Transfer complete," he muttered, manipulating both PADDs in tandem.

He slowed down at an entry that intrigued him. Statistically, transfers *from* the Wayfarer have been greater than the transfers *to*. Personnel and passenger transports diverted from certain areas, Wayfarer directed to certain other places. Cargo assignments through the region were unaffected. You had to know what to look for.

Another entry popped out. Why was Wayfarer used to transfer one passenger? An Intrepid class seemed a waste of a ship for such a mundane task; and understaffed? Puzzling. No details on the passenger, but appears high-attention. Some celebrity? No further details on the entry. No entries from the assigning space station. An incognito celebrity? That would stand to reason.

He checked his personal PADD. News articles for the region did not detail any unusual celebrity oddities, and stories reported seemed normal. No conflicts to note in surrounding sectors. No brewing political issues, so diplomatic efforts are discounted. Oh - an admiral in the sector. Nope. Several other entries discounted that. Curious.

His cuppa was cool by this point, slid across the table away from the PADDs. Time to turn in for the night, and determine transportation to Wayfarer itself. "Computer, download local news articles to my PADD. Also download shipyard activities for, um, " he glanced at the Captain's PADD, "DS9 and the surrounding sectors."

Standing and stretching, Basil gathered both PADDs and thumbed them off. The Personnel Movement Office was between here and his quarters for the night - better get this off his hands.

OFF:

Lieutenant Basil Dampfish
Chief Tactical Officer

&

Captain Dick Sprague
Commanding Officer
USS Wayfarer NCC-72113