Ancipitia

Posted on Sat Mar 9, 2019 @ 11:40am by

640 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Plaga Navis
Location: Undisclosed
Timeline: Current

The sound of footsteps echoed in the stillness of the ship's night as a lone officer walked toward Vice Admiral Cartwright's quarters. The summons at such a late hour could only mean one thing, the first test had reached its conclusion and the results were in. At the entrance to the Admiral's personal quarters, two guards stood attentively keeping watch. Seeing the new arrival, the taller of the two addressed her as she drew near. "The Admiral is expecting you Captain Ivanov. We have been instructed to admit you directly upon your arrival." Behind him, the second guard entered a code into the door control panel and the hatch slid open without a sound, perfectly aligned and lubricated so that the action of the hatch gave no sound to disturb those inside.

Captain Ivanov merely nodded once, not speaking to the junior officers as she crossed the threshold and entered. Behind her, the hatch closed this time, a soft pneumatic hiss indicating the hatch had locked and sealed. Inside, two men rose and turned to greet her as she entered. "Admiral Cartwright." Katya greeted her lover in an appropriately emotionless, professional tone. Then, in a tone of voice much more emotional, not bothering to hide her distaste for the thin, weasel-faced man with Cartwright. "Quincy."

Doctor Quincy Jones bristled slightly, but kept his annoyance to himself as he answered "Captain Ivanov." He knew better than to risk crossing this woman. He liked his body parts kept where they belonged, and had no desire to have his genitals removed, grilled, and force fed back to him as she'd done to a number of other men who had mis-spoken.

Cartwright spoke. "Now that the Captain has arrived, please Doctor Jones. I am eager to learn the results of your test."

Jones gave a curt nod and rose. Activating a holographic display, he began to discuss first the specifics of the virus which he had carefully and meticulously created, and then pulled up an image of a Federation freighter, chosen as the first test of the virus' transmitability and lethality.

Eighty-seven dead. 100% lethality within 48 hours. The test had been a resounding success. The arrival of a Starfleet ship had no impact on the test, the U.S.S. Victory had arrived but too late. The Starfleet ship had lingered for a time, then destroyed the freighter before departing. Jones was delighted with his work, and it showed. In his view, the virus was ready for a much more exacting test of its transmitablity and lethality, which required a much larger exposure base with a larger variety of species present to determine its impacts on victims of different species designation.

Cartwright agreed. Looking to the slender, dark-haired woman seated across from him, he said "Well then, have you successfully identified a second test site for the release of Quincy's tiny pets.."

She nodded. "We have." Touching the controls, the display changed to show a holographic image of a star system. Orbiting the central star were 5 gas giant worlds each with a series of rings and moons which orbited them. "Here, on the fourth planet there is a habitable moon where the Federation has established a research station. They're studying the fish and various creatures which have evolved in the oceans here, almost 3 kilometers beneath the ice which covers the entire surface. There's a wide range of Federation citizens from 14 different Federation worlds here. The base is located on the surface on the ice where they determined there was rocky ground beneath the ice for a stable foundation for the base, and this allows them to minimize impact on the native fauna and life below."

"Well all right.. Quincy. You have your target. See that the package is aboard the next supply ship which travels here.. and then we'll sit back and watch the show.."

 

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