Stability

Posted on Wed May 21st, 2025 @ 12:44am by Commodore Maurice Bell & Captain Andre Hunt

926 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Trillius Prime
Location: Ready Room

Andre was sitting in his ready room, waiting on a call from Starfleet Command. Eight hours ago, he contacted an official on Trillius Prime, then connected with Commodore Bell. From there Commodore Bell, left the call to run Hunt's concerns to the Starfleet C-in-C. Since then, it been a waiting game. The Meridian was to bring back these scientists and get to know the Trill on a mission of good will. But that led to assisting a transport dealing with pirates and realizing that these system was lacked stability that was only going to get worse. The Federation has a vested interest in what happened in this system. For the Meridian to just leave without attempted to address the issue would be a loss and bad for Federation interest.

"Captain Hunt," Baxter spoke coming over the comm. "It's Commodore Bell."

"Put him through." Hunt watched as the tired face of his friend appeared on the small screen at his desk. "You look worn out my friend."

"That's because its 2:00am on Earth," Maurice responded sarcastically. "Ran the current situation to the top, which led to call to the President who called an emergency meeting to all representative from all eleven Federation worlds. The vote was unanimous that Meridian addresses the instability in the region."

"But is our place to resolve their issues on our own?" Hunt asked.

Bell smiled. "Following that vote, the President and Council contacted their leadership and came to an agreement."

"That the Meridian will single handily fix their pirate issue." the Captain added. "I'm all for assisting, but we can't remain posted in this system forever. While the military sits at home."

"My friend the agreement is you start the negotiation process between the Trill and the L'Dira. Their Defense Ministry will send out some ships from the Private Service Fleet to scour the area for pirate activity. But the one you made contact with seems to be the main troublemaker out there. Deal with that ship accordingly. The Federation Council and Starfleet Command are giving you quite a bit of leeway on this one."

Hunt couldn't help but to grin. Leeway was code for getting the job done, almost by any means necessary. Even if it meant straddling the line. "So, I get to play big brother and diplomat."

"Nope, you're going to bring one of their diplomats along," the Commodore corrected. "They will handle negotiations on behalf of their government. The Meridian will be the muscle behind the voice. Hopefully this will motivate them to get these pirates of their in check."

"That is definitely a plan that I can get behind." Immediately several different things came to mind in order to best complete the task being assigned to the Meridian. But he also couldn't help but to realize that they had been babysitting the Trill since they first rescued them from the Orion Syndicate a few months back.

Maurice immediately noticed the look on the Captains face, which clearly indicated the was quite a bit on his mind. "Andre what's bothering you?"

"Just wondering if all of this is worth it Maurice," Andre answered. Putting his hands up in a defensive behavior, he continued. "Yes, I understand the Federation wishing to expand out. And we not getting out any further than Trillius Prime. It would just be nice to simply explore again."

"I understand it," Bell admitted. "My very nature is to explore the unknown and here I am stuck behind a desk. But the Coalition which is now the United Federation of Planets is good for every world involved. Everyone at the top, just wants to ensure that were in a position not find ourselves in another Romulan War situation."

"I get it one hundred percent. Just eager to getting past this solidifying and back to the main reason Starfleet is out here. How is the family?"

"Family is excellent. Kids are growing up way too fast. Need to take some time off in order to plan some sort of vacation. Wife and kids are getting restless and want to know what vacation I have involved."

"What are you considering?" Hunt inquired.

Bell thought about the question briefly. "Kids been wanting to see Luna. They've be curious about what life is like under a dome.
Would prefer a beach myself. but the odds are the kids will win the choice of vacation."

Andre burst out laughing. "Your children are just like you. Wanting to explore over playing in the water and the sun."

"Oh, I actually attended Ty's basketball game the other night," the Commodore brought up. "Kid scored 26 points. You gotta be proud."

"Yeah, I was sent the video. Very proud of him. Its time like those that I wish I was much closer to home. Ty wants to attend Starfleet Academy and wants to play basketball there."

"Perhaps he'll serve under your command one day," the other man joked.

"I'll pass on that," Hunt chuckled. "Him serving under me would be an extremely bad idea. But I do plan on being at his High School graduation and at his Academy graduation in a few years to pin on that Ensign rank."

"What have I told you about looking that far into the future?"

The Captain rubbed his chin in thought. "Bringing on bad luck."

"Exactly," Maurice chimed in. "But let me get to sleep and salvage what's left of my night. You be safe out there my friend."

"You too."

=================
Captain Andre Hunt
Commanding Officer
USS Meridian

Commodore Maurice Bell
Director of Logistical Operations
Starfleet Headquarters

 

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