"Crowd Control" - Commo Sebastian Ascari

Posted on 241504.24 @ 9:29am by Commodore Sebastian Ascari

Mission: Reconciliation & Reconstruction [Fleet Plot]
Location: Starfleet Command, San Francisco, Earth
Timeline: Current

Tall, wood clad doors slid apart revealing only briefly the dimly lit interior of the conference room within. Several high ranking officers filed out in relative silence. Moments later the doors again closed their gilded, gold Starfleet logos denoting the importance of the conference room and those who regularly graced its large interior.

Lt. Westcliffe quickly stood upon seeing his superior exit the conference room. He had been sent to fetch the commodore as soon as he left the meeting. Whatever was going on behind those closed doors was a matter of some importance. Strict orders were in place barring any interruptions and security had been doubled. Westcliffe, the commodore’s adjutant, himself hadn’t been informed as to the purpose or topic of the meeting. He was undoubtedly curious given the large and unusual assembly of top brass.

“Commodore”, Westcliffe called out across the large foyer.

“Lieutenant”, the commodore stated approaching his adjutant.

“Sir, I’ve been asked to retrieve you. There are several officers who have asked for an emergency meeting. They claim it’s of the highest importance.”

“Walk with me lieutenant”, the commodore stated veering off down an empty hallway that ran to a nearby skywalk.

“No doubt you’re curious about the recent meeting?”

“Well sir I didn’t want to pry but…”

“The cat is practically out of the bag, but we’ve just been informed that a Romulan delegation will be arriving soon on Earth for an upcoming summit. The delegation will include the Romulan Praetor.”

Westcliffe’s eyes widened. “That is…unexpected.”

“What is unexpected is that we’ve been ordered to assist with security preparations. Intelligence seems to be security’s right hand in some people’s eyes. I don’t want to reassign hundreds if not thousands of personnel for crowd control, traffic direction, and to advise tourists where they can snap the best holopictures. Klingon Romulan affairs are in a sorry state and we still haven’t fully recovered from recent events. I can’t rebuild the integrity and reputation of the intelligence services if I keep having my hands tied by Federation bureaucrats and politicians who still blame us…blame me for events that happened on my predecessor’s watch. Nothing I say holds any weight these days. Granted…I suppose I cannot blame them after everything that has happened, but they handed me shattered fragments and asked me to pick up the pieces. I can’t get a read on if they are seriously lacking manpower for this summit or if they don’t trust the security forces. Perhaps they want to leverage intelligence against security and vice versa to ensure that anyone with ideas for disrupting or interfering with this summit will be deterred from executing them? The brass couched their answers to my questions with the skill of Romulans." The commodore sighed having gotten some small measure of frustration out of his system.

Keep what I’ve told you to yourself for now Westcliffe. I need you to schedule a meeting with the department heads for this afternoon. Priority one…I want them all there. I also need you to recall applicable personnel to handle summit security duties. We need to have eyes and ears on everything given the high profile nature of this visit. Security is going to be in charge of logistics. We’ll coordinate our activities with them. Intelligence will be playing a supporting role. Background checks need to be performed on guests and attendees, ships and vessels attending need to be scanned, inspected, and verified, and we need to setup a citywide suppression of transporter activity on the day of the summit. We’re to be security’s eyes and ears."

“I’ll have your office get to work on the logistics immediately sir.”

“I want several starships to provide security and as a show of force. This is a diplomatic summit, but I don’t fancy Romulan ships sitting in orbit of Earth for longer than needed. I want them to know they are being carefully monitored. Have my staff examine current starship deployments and recall applicable starships who can fill the role.

I also want our top operatives assigned to the various functions, dinners, and activities that are scheduled. If we need cover stories, credentials, backgrounds…see to them. I want our best people cloaked in plain sight and ready should the slightest incident occur.”

“I’ll see to it sir. Is there anything else?”

“Where do I begin”, the commodore chuckled. “That’s all for now Westcliffe. I haven’t had any lunch. I’m going to grab something and have a chat with a few people. I’ll be back at the office say by….15:30 hours.”

“Very well sir. I’ll inform the staff and begin preparations.”

“Oh and Westcliffe….no leaks. Let’s keep this secret as long as possible. I don’t want the news outlets sniffing around and picking up on this before we’ve had a chance to move assets into position. If we need to misdirect the usual bloodhounds….assign someone to handle them. I don’t care if they say we’re gearing up for a Borg invasion…just have them keep tabs on the media and dodge any questions. We’re a clandestine branch of the service…I don’t need news crews telegraphing our every move to the Romulans, Klingons, or anyone else who isn’t thrilled about the Praetor’s visit to Earth.”

“By the way....is that sandwich shop on the lower level any good? I’ve never tried it.”

“It isn’t bad sir. They’re quick.”

“Quick is good. Thank you lieutenant.” The commodore stopped at a nearby turbolift. “I’ll be back shortly. Make some coffee for the staff….it’s going to be a late night”, the commodore stated stepping into the lift.

“Aye.”

The doors to turbolift hissed closed as Commodore Sebastian Ascari disappeared from view.

Westcliffe rubbed a hand through his hair. The Romulan Praetor….here on Earth? He never thought he would ever see the day. Someone in the diplomatic corps had been working a lot of overtime on this summit and its arrangements.

Moving off Westcliffe headed back toward the intelligence office complex to begin coordinating the various intelligence activities that would be required for the Romulan delegation’s visit. Coffee sounded good….it would indeed be a long night.


==========================================
Commodore Sebastian Ascari
Director, Starfleet intelligence

And

Lieutenant Westcliffe
Adjutant, Starfleet Intelligence