Briefing (Part 2)
Posted on Wed Jul 29th, 2026 @ 4:19am by Captain Erik Norsgaard & Lieutenant Bartholomew Hale & Lieutenant Daegan Baas & Lieutenant Juliette Barnes & Lieutenant Stormy Knight & Lieutenant Daltom Vesper & Lieutenant Sylar & Lieutenant Commander Areum Choi & Lieutenant JG Caitlyn MacRae
1,971 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Friends and Traitors
Location: Conference Room | Deck 1 | USS Thunderbird
Timeline: MD003 - 0800
"Commander Bobbins' activities while aboard were suspicious, combined with his insistence on getting the pilot, someone we were hoping to question about the explosion, off the ship and his death shortly thereafter is even more suspicious. I'm requesting permission to take the Commander into custody for questioning. Commander Nguyen is the station's Chief of Security."
"Watch yourself, Mister Baas. Guilty or not, he's slippery," Hale mused.
"Do you have any evidence to support the theory that the explosion was anything but an accident," Norsgaard asked. He leaned forward slightly in his seat, listening, his expression quietly neutral.
Lieutenant Commander Areum Choi cleared her throat. "Captain, I have been allowing Lieutenant Baas a loose leash to pursue these suspicions after Lieutenant Hale briefed me. I left the leash a bit loose out of courtesy, and I have been waiting for Lieutenant Baas to provide ample evidence" stated Choi.
She looked at Baas. "Lieutenant, please proceed by providing the Captain and I with your findings. Anything circumstantial will unlikely hold up in a court martial, but I would like to hear everything you've collected thus far," she added encouragingly.
Unfortunately there was nothing concrete to go on. "Unfortunately there is very little to go on. As Lt. Hale can confirm there is a series of coincidences that keep pointing to the Commander. We know there is a rise in Maquis aggression and sympathy of the Maquis among Starfleet personnel. We have the attempted murder of a Cardassian. Now we have upcoming negotiations with the Cardassians. Commander Bobbins arrives, we have a shuttle explosion, that same shuttle scheduled for your use Captain. The only survivor to that explosion is whisked away from sickbay before he was able to recover and be questioned, against the advice of the Chief Medical Officer, by Commander Bobbins. Shortly after the transfer that pilot dies shortly after a visit by Bobbins."
"While these could be a series of unfortunate coincidence, there are simply too many coincidences to ignore. If he is up to something the negotiations could be at risk. I hate to accuse another officer of anything but..." He cocked his head, "I'd rather be safe than sorry. If we bring him in for questioning we can run an EP scan or ARA; if for no other reason than to clear him of any suspicion. But if he is up to something he could lead us to others that might be targeting the upcoming talks. I know we very little to go on but we also don't have much time either."
Sylar frowned. "While Commander Bobbins' behaviour in Sickbay was outside what would be considered standard, the evidence does not support the conclusion that Commander Bobbins could have interfered with the patient onboard Thunderbird; at no point aboard ship were the two alone without a member of the Medical staff in attendance." Sylar paused. "I am unable to extend the same conclusion to events occurring on the Starbase."
Baas nodded. "No arguments there, but that's precisely the issue. Not long after the transfer to the station medical facility, and a visit by Bobbins, Ensign Dara was found dead. Commander Nguyen, is investigating things on the station's side of things and when she saw that we had looked into his records, she contacted me and we discussed my concerns. Given the mix of jurisdictions my department and hers are pooling resources."
"She agrees that the growing list of coincidence is enough to dig deeper, and mentioned that he has been rubbing people wrong on the station as well. Given this whole Maquis issue they are looking into his recently activities. She is standing by to run the AP scan during questioning, but was hoping we might be able to eliminate him from our other suspicions...but so far we haven't been able to."
From where she sat, MacRae frowned. Hearing this for the first time was certainly concerning, and yet so far it seemed to be entirely coincidental. Of course there has been so little on Trynn to confirm she was a danger ahead of time, so she could understand why this commander was firmly in the sights of security here and on the starbase. And yet, if the Maquis were becoming so organised, an officer who antagonises others as the lieutenant suggested seemed an … unwise recruit. Especially if he was on the radar of security teams so readily.
Especially if the intent had potentially been to injure or kill the ship’s Captain. For that reason she stayed quiet, curious to see if there was more information still to be brought to the table.
Lieutenant Commander Areum Choi looked at Captain Norsgaard. "As concerned as I am about Maquis attempts to interfere, and the safety of your life, Captain," she prefaced carefully, "I am hearing a lot of coincidences and circumstantial evidence pointing towards an officer. I believe we need to be cautious with the optics however we choose to proceed."
Norsgaard's expression turned progressively colder as he listened. "First, there's a difference between coincidence and fact. Coincidences strung together without supporting evidence becomes a witch hunt. And, however much you don't like an officer, he can't be questioned on your suspicions alone. We're Starfleet. We don't do that. And further, the first person you speak to when you have a concern, when you see something that's happening on my ship? Is me. And if you can't find me, talk to Commander Choi. Lieutenant, you took this off ship and you have literally no proof whatsoever that anything happened. From the review made by Lieutenants Hale and Barnes of the shuttle explosion, it was an accident. Nothing more." He turned toward Commander Choi. "I think you and I should speak to this Commander Nguyen regarding her flagrant disregard of the chain of command."
Having served with him before, and knowing him better than those here he felt he was probably one of the few people, of lower rank, that could speak up. "Captain, you misunderstand. I don't know Commander Bobbins from atom so it has nothing to do with like or dislike. Additionally there wasn't a violation of the chain of command. Commander Nguyen was investigating a death on her station that investigation led to the involve Commander Bobbins. In the course of her investigation she found the we were investigating an incident involving the Commander as well. She simply reached out to regarding that inquiry to see if the two were related. Which to an extent, they were. No one has suggested the of charging this Commander Bobbins with any crime, but his involvements in multiple incidents, while seemingly consequential, warrant further investigation. The routine questioning to clarify involvement in an incident, is not an accusation nor are they the filing of charges. Sir."
"And what incident were you investigating," Erik questioned. "What evidence have you gathered to support questioning Commander Bobbins?
He was the last person the see the Ensign alive. That alone warrant situational questioning but those events took place aboard the station so that's Nguyen's responsibility and is something going to take place anyway, as it should. By expanding the questioning to include the entire sequence of events leading up to the Ensign's death will clarify several questions. What was his relationship with the Ensign? Why he was so adamant that he be transferred, even given the warning from Dr. Sylar? What was the purpose of his other activities while on the ship? Granted, those questions are more in line with the Commander's investigation...but would also close the door on everything here."
Gesturing to Hale, "As you heard from Lt. Hales earlier comment, he believes Bobbin's to be "Slippery". Is he really "slippery" as Hale thinks or just an abrasive officer? When I saw the result of the review I to thought this matter was settled, but...but even with the combined experience of previous hosts I can't escape the feeling there is something else going on. Why...why did he demand the transfer of the one person that could let us know what was happening inside that shuttle before he was in a condition to confirm or refute that report...and now that same person is dead. I hope I'm wrong I really do, but reports have been wrong before."
"So, no evidence other suspicion based on proximity to events," Norsgaard said. "Commander Bobbins requested the transfer because we are about to embark on a somewhat dangerous rendezvous with the Ocett to open negotiations with the Cardassians. Given that uncertainty, it's reasonable that he would want the young man moved over to the Starbase where he could receive a comparable level of care. If you had taken the time to do, say, an autopsy of his remains that supported your questions, tracked his movements on board our ship and discovered something nefarious in his behavior, or presented evidence of tampering with the shuttle, that would warrant further investigation. You have none of that. I understand. The refugee and his attacks on our crew. The Maquis. Our own counselor being one of them and her attempt to kill the Gul's son. That leads to a certain level of heightened suspicion. Paranoia even. But let's not forget. We operate on facts and so far, neither you nor Nguyen have any at all. I can't stop her from continuing her 'investigation' but unless I see something approaching evidence of wrongdoing, I think your involvement in this is at an end, Lieutenant."
Daltom had to appreciate that the Captain did not let this attack distract him while acknowleding that they were basically targets for everyone on this mission. It did not help that his predecessor was a spy. Nonetheless, here he was and here he was going to stay until he had something that would help him move up the chain further.
Julie agreed with the captain, but said nothing. You can’t just go around accusing or questioning people simply for being nearby when it happened. That’s just not how it worked. No need to offend someone without any evidence.
Lieutenant Commander Choi respected Captain Norsgaard's decision, an uncomfortable position to be placed in during such uncertain times. "We have our mission and our orders. Let's concentrate on those and ensure we don't get swept into the paranoia creeping through Starfleet currently," stated Choi. "Baas you've done your best with what little you had to work with. It does not seem as though your investigation yielded anything concrete. We'll leave Nguyen to her pursuits. Shift your efforts from investigation to preparedness. I want reassurance that our security teams are ready in the event someone tries to ruin our attempts at peace."
"Agreed," Norsgaard said. "We need to be ready. And now, if there's nothing else, I'll let you get back to your duties."
It did not take a moment. Daltom rose quickly from his chair and started to make his way to the exit.
Stormy stood and followed the counselor out of the room. She had nothing to add to the conversation, but she believed Lieutenant Baas had several good points and it sounded to her like there was enough circumstantial evidence to have a closer look at Commander Bobbins. She just hoped security could find that evidence before someone else got hurt.
Julie rose with a sigh. She had more investigating to do if they wanted to figure out who did this.
Captain Erik Norsgaard
Commanding Officer
USS Thunderbird
Lieutenant Daltom Vesper
Chief Counselor
USS Thunderbird
Lieutenant Bartholomew Hale
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Thunderbird
Lieutenant Stormy Knight
Chief Science Officer
USS Thunderbird
Lieutenant Juliette Barnes
Chief Engineer
USS Thunderbird
Lieutenant Caitlyn MacRae
Second Officer
USS Thunderbird
Lieutenant Daegan Baas
Chief of Security
USS Thunderbird
Lieutenant Sylar
Chief Medical Officer
USS Thunderbird
Lieutenant Tatiana Dragos
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Thunderbird
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