Signal 5: What’s Missing
In the quiet between questions and answers, a silence in the data reveals more than any beacon ever could. Mission Clock: +0.04 Sols
Scene 5 —Interior, Admiral Shuri’s Office — Carthage Station
Admiral Shuri Bahrami’s office sat high under the dome of Carthage Station, overlooking the clustered silhouettes of docked Starfleet vessels. The woman herself, weathered by decades of service and absolutely done with discomfort, sat in a pristine uniform and an even more pristine chair. Jazz — real wax-pressed jazz — drifted from her meticulously restored record player, the saxophone’s low lament weaving around a carefree piano.
Sure, the needle was cushioned by a micro inertial dampener and a smart-pressure regulator for preservation. But after a lifetime of roughing it, she allowed herself her luxuries.
A soft chime cut through the music.
Bahrami: Bahrami here.
Adjunct: Admiral, Captain Sawyer is here to see you.
She let out a faint, irritated exhale.
Bahrami: Send him in.
The door swooshed open and Bahrami straighten her jacket.
Sawyer: Admiral.
Bahrami: (Warmly) Alex, come in. I have some tea ready.
Sawyer: Really, Shuri, this isn’t-
Bahrami: I insist. Also have some cheese. I imported it from Earth herself.
Sawyer: You really went all out on this. -
Bahrami: I never miss an opportunity to be a good host.
Sawyer: (sits down and takes a sip) Good tea.(Nice house) I suppose this is original too.
Bahrami: Neyshabur IV, actually. Not bad. Beautiful colony with these rolling hills.
Sawyer: So the cheese was worth the effort but the tea wasn’t?
Bahrami: Stop it. (She laughs) I was not expecting you for another three days. I thought you would be neck deep within your ship. Has Kentir fixed your power flow yet?
Sawyer: (He Paused for an awkward second) Well, about that. Asan just posted a class 3 medical quarantine.
Bahrami: (flatly) No.
Sawyer: Shuri, they are in trouble.
Bahrami:(She straightened up and rolled her shoulders back, shifting out of friendly mentor mode and into hardass admiral mode) I am not allowing you to jump across the line early based on a quarantine buoy.
Sawyer: It went to Class 3 out of nowhere. That’s insane. Something is definitely up.
Bahrami: Plagues sneak up on colonies all the time, Alex. They usually do.
Sawyer: We can go out there and check it out. We would only be ahead by three days, and that might be time Asan does not have.
Bahrami: We don’t even have firm communication with Asan. We arranged this meeting by proxy. You don’t know how much time they have. And I am not going to risk antagonizing the Klingons based on your hunch. That’s final.
Sawyer: What if there was foul play?
Bahrami: Oh come on now, Alex. Now you are sounding conspiratorial. Not everything in the universe is connected.
Sawyer: A class 3 quarantine just days before we are to meet them? Our first and only contact within the Waste that agreed to meet with us? If anyone wanted to sabotage Cornucopia, that would do it.
Bahrami: And I am not going to risk a war with the Klingons over a gut feeling, Alex. If you can bring me evidence of foul play, I’ll consider it. But until then, my final word is ‘wait’.
Sawyer: How can I find evidence of foul play from 30 light-years away?
Bahrami: Who said anything about 30 light years? Why not start here? What have you got, boy?
Sawyer: We have an automated signal from Asan, our first and only contact in the Waste. And a powder keg off a political situation.
Bahrami: And your galavanting attitude.
Sawyer: I learned from the best.
Bahrami: (scoffs) Only learn the good lessons from me. Here’s one: If someone is playing a conspiracy on you, they would be trying to hide information, right? Don’t focus so hard on the facts, but what’s missing.
Sawyer: We don’t know much about the Voknor’s Reach, and we only have scant information on the pathogen. Just symptoms.
He stopped, his eyes widened.
Sawyer: We… wait… we don’t have the genetic profile of the pathogen. That’s standard on a quarantine beacon in hopes that passing ships might be able to help. What the hell?
Bahrami: That would be a good way to cover something up. Prevent Starfleet from helping.
Sawyer: God! I’m such an idiot. I should’ve-
Bahrami: You’re not an idiot (She laughs). You have good instincts, Alex. I wouldn’t have put you in command of the Opportunity if you didn’t. Follow through with this. Get me that evidence, and you’ll have that chance to change some lives out here.
Sawyer: (ruefully) Not all of my instincts are good…
Bahrami: Yes, they are. Even that one. Don’t talk poorly about my officers. Every one of them has the skills, talents, and drive to be the best Starfleet has. I don’t accept less. Even from you.
Sawyer: (smirking) Ty would be EVA-ing across the border right about now.
Bahrami: (smirking in return) And you would be tethered to him, I’m sure.
Sawyer: I want to do the right thing. It’s just… everything. The bureaucracy, the politics. The Klingons, the Romulans, the Council. Hell, half the Federation still thinks the whole inattentive is a waste.
Bahrami: Let me worry about the politics, boy. That’s the Admiral’s job, keep the nonsense off your back so you can do the right thing. You go out there, make sure your ship and crew are in the right place, with the right tools and the right information to DO the right thing. When the time is right, pour the tea.
Sawyer: You’re right. You can’t get up the mountain if you don’t know what’s ahead.
Bahrami: You damn right ‘I’m right’.
Sometimes what isn’t said speaks louder than any signal.
And Sawyer suddenly knows: the real danger is already in motion.