Reporting in to the boss.
Posted on Mon Jun 29th, 2026 @ 5:26pm by Captain Daegan Baas & Petty Officer 2nd Class Sizia Sh'velihr [Baas] & Lieutenant JG Rosaline Belikov
Edited on on Mon Jun 29th, 2026 @ 5:27pm
2,036 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Monsters are real
Location: CO’s Ready Room
Timeline: MD 1 - 1000
Standing in the turbolift en route to the bridge, Rose was on her way to report in to the ships Captain after getting squared away in her quarters and leaving Ziva in child care. After what happened on her last assignment, a ship on the fringes of federation space sounded like a great place to settle and reset for a bit. Feeling the lift begin to slow, Rose took in a breath and held it for a moment before slowly releasing it. As the doors slid open, she stepped out and headed straight for the ready room.
[Bridge]
Sizia was just leaving the Captain's office and nearly ran into the woman. "Oh excuse me." With a smile she recognized the one of the additions to the crew from the recent transfer of personnel records. "Ah you must be Lieutenant Belikov?"
“Yes, I suppose I am” Rose replied, giving her a quickly look over, “and you must be Petty Officer Sh’velihr, Captain’s Yeoman.” She said, holding her hand out, “it’s good to meet you, I was hoping to see the Captain if he’s in?”
Sizia cocked her head slightly grinning, "That's me, the one and only. I see you did your homework. But yes the Captain is in," whispering, "though in a bit of funk."
Rose looked at the door with a mix of curiosity and caution, “bit of a funk huh? Should I come back later?”
Sizia shook her head. "No, nothing to worry about. He'll welcome the distraction. Do you need me to get anything taken care of for you while you check in? Personal effects transferred, quarters assigned...?”
“Oh no, that’s all sorted. Thank you though. My quarters are small and comfortable for us” Rose replied, giving her a polite smile.
"Us? Ohh... That's right you had a new addition didn't you? Congratulations!" Putting an anxious hand on Rose's arm, "I just love those chubby little cheeks. Well, if you ever need a babysitter I get first dibs."
Rose's eyes widened in surprise, "oh, um, that's quite generous of you. Thank you but I wouldn't want to add to your responsibilities."
Sizia waved it off with a gesture. "Are you kidding me? Not only would it be a break from the routine, but how often does one get to witness...and play with pure innocence."
Rose gave a chuckle at Sizia’s enthusiasm, “ok, ok, you’ve convinced me. If I need a sitter, you’ll be the first person I call” she said, Sizia’s energy seeming to be infectious.
Sizia smiled enthusiastically as she bounced a bit, "Excellent, I can't wait to see your little one! But I won't keep you any longer." With that she headed of to make the final arrangements for the memorial service.
[Ready Room]
The Valkyrie would be departing tomorrow to continue their search for the defiled while they explored more of the uncharted areas of the Beta Quadrant. Kurul and the other Romulan co-conspirators where under arrest and would be charged for the assault on his officers. The man that had killed two of his engineers had himself been killed so justice had been served. He looked out the window as he re-reviewed the letter to the families.
He dropped his hand behind his back holding the PADD. As he thought about the number of lives lost in the short time since they had left Utopia Planitia. Hearing the chime he replied, but didn't move.
"Enter."
Stepping inside, Rose stopped a few steps in and stood to attention, “Captain, Lieutenant JG Rosaline Belikov reporting for duty as Encryption Specialist”
Turning, he demeanor changed as a smile appeared. Gesturing to the seat at his desk, "Please have a seat."
Taking the offered seat, Rose pulled out a small PADD with her transfer orders on them, placing it on his desk, “thank you Captain.”
Activating his holo-monitor he transferred her orders and records as and scanned them. He had seen then in the original transmission when they where first created but seeing them again served as a reminder. "Ah yea our former Marine...our Chief of Security came over from the SFMC."
“It’s a good life sir, but I found Intelligence suited me better” Rose said, remembering her time in the Corp.
"What prompted the change? Marines tend to be a close knit group that, on occasion, look down on us 'Fleeters'."
"I can't really point to one specific reason. The life and comradery were good, I just suppose I sought a more mentally challenging career then a physically demanding one" Rose answered, never having to justify her decision before.
With everything that had been happening that brought an honest smile to his face and a bit of laughter. "You realize you just through the Corps under the shuttle-bus."
Rose shrugged, “don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my time in the corp. I just wanted to expand my culinarily horizons, Crayons and MRE’s can only get you so far”
Chuckling a again he nodded, "I can definitely see how that could get old." He was enjoying the good natured banter but he had a serious question to ask. "I see that you volunteers for assignment on the Valkyrie, even though you recently had a child. You were briefed on the Valkyrie's mission?"
“I didn’t really look at it closely. I volunteered simply because it was an assignment far from anything. Somewhere I could reset and regain my footing while caring for my daughter. I accept the risks of the unknown, but I’m not the peace and quiet sort.”
Nodding at her explanation, but his question was really answered. "The official mission is the exploration of the unknown. However as that mission began that exploration uncovered something. The Valkyries has a additional, classified, mission. Did the briefing, you skimmed over, include anything on the Defiled?"
Rose lent forward in her chair, her attention fully peeked, “no, it didn’t. What’s going on here Captain?” She asked, her tone shifting to a mix of serious and concerned. Starfleet rarely classified things so quickly this far out unless it would either cause a panic, or pose a significant threat to the Federation itself.
Baas took a breath and directed her to the wall monitor. “Computer display initial report on the Defile, authorization Baas, Gamma-91735-Echo.”
The computer replied. “Authorization Confirmed. Reminder, the information related to the Defiled lifeform has been classified by Starfleet Command.”
Moments later Baas' image was displayed as his report began, summarizing the information they had been initially give, what their own encounter had revealed, video footage recovered from the Pricari surface and orbital station, followed by the video captured from tricorder and shuttle sensors from the surface and the shuttle used to beam up and contain the still mutating and combative remains of the deceased Lt. Wells.
Rose watched the display, taking in everything she could. She wanted to catch up as quickly as she could and from what she was seeing, this was going to be a steep learning curve.
Cutting off the report conclusion and recommendations, filling her in on those personally. “Thus far; communicability is 100%. We believe the mega-creature encountered was an amalgamation of the other forms...for what purpose...we don't know yet.”
"Given the how contagious it is and how it is able to defy know science the existence of the Defiled has been classified at the highest levels. Not just to contain a general panic but to prevent someone from trying to weaponize this contagion. Outside of the crew, Admiral Pullard on SB 152, and a handful of people at Starfleet command...no one knows the Defiled exists. One of your responsibilities will be to ensure that there is no leaks on our end.”
"Our job, while we continue to explore, is to find where those things came from and eliminate them."
Pausing as he bobbed a single finger, "There has also been an interesting twist in that regard. Admiral Pullard dispatched a task group to study those things but when they got there the surface of the planet had been reduced to a molten state."
“Molten? Do someone is trying to cover their tracks, or another species is attempting to deal with the infection through glassing affected planets.” Rose suggested, as she processed the footage and information she’d been given. “That’s not a bad solution to this kind of contagion. Don’t risk spread by eradicating everything on the planets surface. Though it is a little extreme. Do we still have the remains of the late Lt. Wells?”
"My theory. I think we have someone, for some reason, cleaning up what we find. Someone either knows we would want to study it and is out to prevent that, or is just making sure this thing is completely wiped out. As for Wells..." shaking his head, "...Wells died on the surface. Whatever this contagion does it seems to not only reanimate the dead but mutate it into whatever best suits its purposes in order to spread.
"Why...we don't know. How they know what to do or where to go...we don't know either. Those are things for the life sciences and medical to figure out. Like I said you need to keep things from leaking out and if possible figure out who's shadowing us."
Rose nodded, processing, “easy enough, complete communications blackout. All outgoing messages go through me and are only to be directed to Starfleet Command directly and encrypted.” She said, looking up at him, “as for who’s chasing us, that might take more time, but I’ll work on it”
"Good. Only comms going out at the present time is official comms with the Admiral at SB 152. All personal correspondence is already being held. So that's already in place.
"As for our ghost... It would be very coincidental that someone with the power to liquify the surface of a planet knew of the Defiled's threat and just happened along between the time we left and the arrival of the science task force from the Star Base. Either something was leaked from the Star Base, our comms were intercepted and decoded, or someone aboard sent out word to whoever did this."
Rose frowned, “those are some serious accusations. Two of those options could be looked upon as treason, and the third is just disturbing to think about. I can keep an eye on all local com traffic, see if there are any patterns I can pull out”
Daegan nodded, thinking that treason was a bit much. Whoever was out there had kept the Defiled from spreading, even though they had kept Starfleet from studying it...it's elimination was probably for the best. "The assembly of a task force at a starbase would have attracted attention to anyone watching, but I know of nothing in the Klingon or Romulan arsenal that could have done this and the speed at which it was done kind of eliminates them, or anyone else, at least in my mind. Additionally I would think most would have tried to recover a sample not destroy everything. It's almost as if someone was helping or possible cleaning up after themselves."
“Either option is interesting. Either they created it or have experience dealing with it” Rose observed
"Possibly...at any rate. Get with Lieutenant Kellerman and get your monitor of the ship's outgoing comms in place. Additionally, once you two have had a chance two put your heads together please report any additional possibilities you all come up with."
Rose stood up, giving a nod, “right away sir, I’ll see what I can find. Hopefully whoever is doing this left me a few bread crumbs”
Baas stood as well. "Excellent. Well I guess that only leave one thing left. Computer, officer appointment. Lieutenant Junior Grade Rosaline Belikov is hear by designated an Intelligence Officer for the USS Valkyrie. Authorization Baas, Gamma-91735-Echo."
"Acknowledge. All appropriate access and authorizations are granted to Lieutenant Junior Grade Rosaline Belikov as of this date."
Extending his hand and a smile, "Welcome aboard."
Captain Daegan Baas
CO
Lieutenant JG Rosaline Belikov
Intel Officer
PO2 Sizia Sh'velihr
Yeoman
NPC
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