Speaking Securely
Posted on Tue Oct 1st, 2024 @ 9:21pm by Lieutenant Commander Damien Maillet & Lieutenant Kris McEntyre
611 words; about a 3 minute read
Mission:
Season 1, Episode 1: Wanted: A Few Brave Men
Location: Damien's Office
The new head of the Intelligence unit had sent a request to speak with Damien. It made sense. The two departments were intrinsically linked, with a portion of the station’s communications apparatus devoted to intercepting signals from the Klingons, and certain special protocols were necessary to get secure information between the station and Starfleet Intelligence HQ.
He had his office set up just the way he wanted, so he sat and caught up on linguistics articles while waiting for his guest to arrive.
Kris arrived a few moments later, having come straight from the briefing. She was still covered in war paint, and dressed in her field armor and gear.
"Commander Maillet? I'm Kris McEntyre, Starfleet Intelligence Section 3"
She introduced herself professionally as she stood before the small desk he was occupying.
"Welcome, Lieutenant McEntyre," Damien replied. "Come in, sit. The office is secure. We can talk. How was your arrival?"
"Aside from having to dodge Klingons, not too bad. It seems I've come right on time if they're planning on taking a 50 Year old Ship into Klingon Territory"
Kris commented as she sat before the desk in one of the offered chairs, leaning back as she did.
“It’s not a perfect plan,” Damien agreed. “It’s just the only one we have. Regrettably we seem to have been given two competing briefs. One says that this region is critical and we must defend Federation interests, ideally with the Rheuysians and the Eifie on our side. The other says we only have a decrepit old K class station and an even older Lancaster to do it.”
"Lancasters, I can work with. My mother served on the 1217 Wolfe, as Chief Medical Officer. How I got a brother, so I know them backwards and forwards."
Kris explains as she leans back in her chair.
“If you know their capabilities, that will help provide Commander Vincent with reasonable expectations,” Damien observed. “You know what they can do, so you can advise if we’re tasking the Tigerfish with something mission critical but also impossible, best to know ahead of time so we can modify the mission.”
“Reasonable, I can do. I’ll have to dig into Tigerfish’s guts though to see what your comms and cryptography systems look like. Might have to update and patch them before we break port. Beyond that, anything else I should know?”
Kris asks, taking mental notes of what she would need to get the ol gal up to snuff to something modern.
"Assume all cryptography on the Tigerfish is out of date," Damien answered. "I've been working to bring our own aboard K-9 up to standard and it's been challenging. You and I may be exchanging comms in part by speaking vaguely. Do your best with what you have."
"I'll grab a copy of the new software before I go aboard. I should also see about doing something with the computer core. I doubt it's up to Duotronic standard." Kris commented as she listened to Damien.
"I've not seen it myself, but I expect you're right," Damien agreed. "But keep in touch, and don't hesitate to ask. We might be able to requisition whatever you need, if we can ask precisely for it." He stood up and offered his hand. "Have a good trip, Lieutenant. Be safe out there."
“To you as well, Commander. Good hunting” Kris stood, snapping off a quick salute before precisely turning on her heels and exiting Damian’s office to head for the Tigerfish.
END
Lieutenant Commander Damien Maillet
Chief Communications Officer, Deep Space K-9
Lieutenant Kris McIntyre
Chief Communications Officer, USS Tigerfish
Intelligence Officer, Deep Space K-9
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