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"Big Brother"
Previous post "N/A"
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"I do not think of it as spying, but rather as keeping a vigilant watch on those who are not expecting it."
- Captain Paul Harris, USS HORUS

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Setting: USS ANUBIS, Bridge
Stardate: 31199.0615

The flashing red status lights made it clear to everyone that the ANUBIS had been on highest alert setting.  That the main view screen displayed the imposing asteroid in which the NEW ALEXANDRIA base had been hidden only added to the mystery that surrounded the entire situation. At exactly 0555 the senior staff had been called into rushed active duty when the ship had been put on red alert and the cloaking armour engaged as per the Captain's orders.

"Would you mind reminding me as to why I we were all woken up at 0 dark 30 to stand watch over our own ultra secret and *hidden* base?" the redheaded Chief Engineer inquired in a huff as she leaned against the engineering station located at the back of the bridge. "Are we planning on surprising dear old Admiral Koniki with a few well placed gifts?" Sonja added with a Scottish accent. "Perhaps a starship peekaboo game? All of this is rather strange to me... and I know strange," the redhead added as she threw shifty glances towards Shar'El and Ya'Han.

"Unfortunately," Shar'El sighed rolling her eyes at the CEO, "we are not here to surprise the Admiral but rather to keep an eye on the USS BASTET which is set to depart by 0700." The ILO clarified, her own cold voice hinting that she had been less than happy with the high ranking officer mentioned or the orders that the crew had received from him.

"So we are here to play big brother to the BASTET and her crew?" The Chief of Operations queried, the senior staff having been told nothing about the reason or reasons as to why they had been summoned to their stations at such an early hour in the morning.

"The BASTET as gone through an extensive refit and my guess is that we are here to make sure that everything goes according to plan for its first trip out with the new equipment," the Chief Science Office explained, her position and rank having granted her some access to the specific details of the other ship's upgrades.  "It is very likely that Admiral Koniki expects the crew of the BASTET to have their attention on the ship and the new equipment which leaves us with keeping an eye on everything else to insure that there are no surprises," Maya added as she glanced at the Commanding Officer and ILO, not wanting to say more than she should.

"Given the secrecy of the base and that the BASTET belongs to the same covert organization," the Chief of Security began, "I do not understand why we are under full cloak and armour.  Are we truly expecting something to attack us here?" Ya'Han asked, her eyes diligently scrutinizing the sensor readings to make sure that nothing unusual had been picked up.

"In a universe as vast as ours," Eve began as she threw a sideways glance in the direction of the Native American man in command of the ANUBIS, "danger can appear in ways that may be on the edge of or beyond our understanding."

Erik took a slow deep breath as he carefully considered his position. The orders from Admiral Koniki had been beyond clear; the details of the upgrades to the BASTET were to remain unspecified, this to limit to a strict minimum the possibilities of a security breach which would gravely endanger the BASTET and her crew. The basic reasoning of this made perfect sense to the Native American, but there had been one thing that Morningstar could not bring himself to agree with - the status of his crew.

According to what the Admiral had said, it had been clear that the crew of the ANUBIS had been considered to be less than perfectly reliable, and that did not sit well with the Captain. Erik would not hesitate to place his life in the hands of each and every member of his crew, so it had been impossible for him to see the concerns that Koniki had obviously entertained in some way, shape or form.

"Admiral Koniki made it clear that the details surrounding the BASTET and its refit are to remain secret," Erik offered as if trying to justify what would be his continued silence, but instead he continued.  "The ship has been equipped with not only a cloaking device but also a trans-dimensional drive allowing it to open a gateway to other dimensions. Either one of these devices would be enough to draw attention to the ship, either by forces wishing to appropriate the technology or by civilizations fearing them being used in a way that would hinder their way of life."

"A dimensional jump drive *and* a cloaking device?" Ya'Han gasped. "Why do I suddenly feel like the ship is going to have a huge target painted on it the moment it comes out?"

"I think the BASTET had a big target painted on this the moment Koniki gave the okay to have the equipment placed onboard," Sonja said as she glanced at her console to insure that all systems on the ANUBIS were working at peak efficiency. "How long will we be expected to play 'big brother' to the other ship?"

"Our orders are to escort the BASTET to the GAMMA ERADI Cluster where it will test the D-Drive," the Native American replied knowing that the crew would make sure that the mission would be successful no matter what might get in their way.

"Sure," Sonja said as she shook her head. "No problem. We just need to track the invisible jumper while keeping an eye out for stealthy bogies.  There better be chocolate involved at some point in this mission."

Ya'Han, the Chief of Security, could not help looking back at her friend in a quizzical manner following the chatting rant.

--==(/\)==--

Francois Charette

Captain Erik Morningstar
Commanding Officer
USS ANUBIS, NCC 18501

AND

Lt. Commander Elan Fairborn
Robotics Engineering Officer
NEW ALEXANDRIA