Intel and Encryption
Posted on Tue Jun 30th, 2026 @ 5:43am by Lieutenant JG Ryan Kellerman & Lieutenant JG Rosaline Belikov
1,678 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Monsters are real
Location: Intelligence Centre, Deck 9
Timeline: Pre-MD01
The Intelligence Centre on Deck 9 was a round-the-clock department. Much like Engineering or Operations, it never slept or shut down.
Ryan Kellerman stood just inside his partitioned office in the main Intel Operations Room with a PADD in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, watching his department as it made wholesale changes. The Valkyrie's Intelligence staffing levels were significantly higher than his previous assignment aboard the USS Resistance where both Security and Intel had been integrated.
But transfers always felt like this. It was like a tide going out and coming back in, except the water wore grey uniforms and had varying levels of security clearance.
He took a sip of coffee which had gone lukewarm sometime in the past ten minutes.
"Ensign Bukhari," he said, glancing down at the PADD, "you're cleared for departure at fourteen-hundred. Your final report's already been forwarded to Deep Space 14."
Bukhari, a young twentysomething female--short, with chin-length black hair and bright green eyes--nodded curtly at Ryan and with a smile said, "Understood, sir."
Ryan returned the nod. "You did solid work here. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise."
The woman hesitated, then straightened after a moment. "Thank you, sir."
"Good luck," he said, offering a hand.
She took it and shook once. And just like that, she was gone. One less name on the roster. One less mind in the room.
Ryan updated the file with a flick of his thumb. It was a little sad to see officers leave, but it was part of being in Starfleet and it was even for more common as a senior officer to see it happen in your own department.
He set the coffee down on the console island--meant to serve as his personal desk--containing the holo display and gave the data PADD his full attention.
In his mind, he ticked off the numerous personnel changes that had occurred--and were occurring.
T'Proel, the enigmatic Assistant Chief of Intelligence, had transferred out the day before having been promoted to full Lieutenant and on her way to a new assignment as the USS Rustin's new Intel Chief. Her departure would leave a gaping hole in the department.
Ensign Lyzair, the overly-enthusiastic Bajoran data analyst, had transferred-out that morning. His new assignment would be aboard the USS Asantewaa in a similar role. It would likely take a full week for him to arrive there as the Asantewaa was currently patrolling the Tholian border region.
Petty Officer Second Class Waldsachs would be missed by most. A middle-aged non-comm who had retrained from Security to Intelligence in his forties, he was always quick with a smile or a joke--on-duty or off. His new position would be more administrative at Starbase 74 and closer to his adult children who resided on Alpha Centauri. With grandchildren on the way, Ryan knew Waldsachs had been itching to get away from all deep space assignments.
And then there was Bukhari: young, impressionable, and extremely hard-working. The previous missions seemed to have taken a toll on her and she had been responsible for compiling all classified information from Valkyrie on The Defiled for Starfleet Intelligence. None of it was for the faint of heart.
That was four officers gone in the span of twenty-four hours and beyond that, they still lacked an Encryption Specialist and the much-needed Linguistic Analyst which Captain Baas had assured him were always in short supply throughout the fleet.
Ryan picked up the coffee cup again and almost brought it to his lips before remembering how much colder it probably was now. He set it back down and tossed the PADD onto the far side of island, listening to the clatter.
Stepping into the intelligence centre, Rose was surprised to see it so……quiet. Normally there’d be a cast of characters moving about from screen to screen, but here it was like a server room. The hum of the ship seemed to be all the noise there was. Taking in a deep breath, Rose made her way in, heading for the Intel chief’s office to report in.
He noticed her in the space just beyond the doorway to his office. She looked human at first glance: dark hair tied back into a ponytail, and more muscles than Ryan was used to seeing on a human woman. It was until the light caught her from a different angle that he noticed a slight change to her skin tone.
Reaching down toward another data PADD, Ryan fished-out one that contained some of the faces in his department. He didn't feel like guessing who she was and so he stood and motioned for her to enter.
Stepping in, Rose stood to attention, “Lieutenant JG Rosaline Belikov reporting for duty” she said, her transfer orders in her hand. Upon an initial glance, the officer before her decently attractive if a little younger then she’d expected for a department head. He seemed a little melancholy at present, perhaps a good friend had departed recently.
Ryan looked up at her quickly and then back down at the pile of PADDs on the island, his thumb flicking through the stack. A parade of names ran past his eyes--faces he recognized and faces he didn't. Nothing in there matched Belikov.
He frowned and felt irritation rising in him.
"Belikov," he repeated.
Ryan didn't miss much--that was the job. And yet, he missed this.
Which meant one of two things: either the paperwork for her transfer hadn't caught-up yet, or someone had dropped a live variable into the Intelligence department without warning. Neither option improved his mood.
Finally, he set the last PADD down on the island and sighed.
"Repeat that," he said in the kindest way he knew how.
Rose’s expression changed to one of confusion, “Um, Lieutenant JG Rosaline Belikov?” She repeated before she handed over her transfer orders. “I’m your new encryption specialist transferring in from the USS Madrid.”
He took the PADD from her without any ceremony, and tapped at it to verify everything was in order. Of course, it was. Ryan knew how orders sometimes weren't transmitted when they should have been and how a new officer might actually be carrying their paperwork with them. It wouldn't be the first time.
He suddenly stopped as her words echoed in his head.
"Wait," he said, putting the PADD down. "Did you say Encryption Specialist?"
He regarded her with a mixture of hope and disbelief.
Rose couldn’t help the amused smile that forced it way into her face. “Are you ok sir? I know Intel can be a stressful job, but you seem snowed under, should I call medical?” She asked, finding his sense of confusion both amusing and concerning. Perhaps he was overwhelmed and lacking sleep like an academy student before finals.
Ryan took the PADD from her without ceremony. His fingers moved over its surface as he pulled the document into focus. The transfer header was clean.
"Someone upstairs is finally listening," he said, a faint smile on his face.
A small exhale left him that sounded like a mixture of subdued laughter and relief. He set the PADD down on the table and straightened his uniform.
"Welcome to the Valkyrie, Lieutenant Belikov."
He offered a hand and an expression of genuine warmth.
Rose blinked in confusion before taking the offered hand, “Thank you sir, I look forward to working with you.”
"You're arriving during a rebuild," Ryan said, stepping around the desk. "Last forty-eight hours we've lost our Assistant Chief, a data analyst, a senior non-com, and one of my junior officers. Nobody died and nobody found themselves reassigned to a penal colony--it's just Starfleet being Starfleet."
He walked her out to the central area of Intelligence which was now conspicuously empty. "And I don't need medical, Lieutenant. But thank you for thinking of me. It's been, well... there's no real way to express it without an expletive, so let's just leave it there."
Rose smiled, “a complete cluster fuck sir?” She said, a little of the old marine coming out as he followed him. “I’ve seen entire divisions ripped apart because Starfleet decided they needed people somewhere else.”
For a moment Ryan just stared at her, and it was not because of the profanity. It was simply because she had said it with the casual confidence of someone commenting on the taste of a replicated pulled-pork sandwich.
A laugh escaped him before he could stop it, and something boyish about him rose to the surface.
"Yes," he said, shaking his head. "That." He resumed walking to the operations island in the intelligence centre.
"A complete and utter clusterfuck."
Ryan glanced sideways at her. "Shit, when I was younger, that would have been my official after-action assessment. Along with several other colourful observations that would've guaranteed I never made Lieutenant."
There had been a time when he had measured his off-shifts by empty cups and bottles. It was a time when every disagreement--big or small--felt like a challenge. And every challenge felt like it needed to be won. Starfleet Academy had barely washed any of that away. Three years of service on the Astera and Galileo sanded some of those edges off. Marriage had sanded-off even more. Life had done the rest.
Mostly.
"I try not to let my true feelings about personnel transfers or the chain-of-command come out," he admitted in a low voice. "It wouldn't be becoming of the Intelligence Chief." He smirked at Rose.
Rose smiled, “No, I suppose not sir. But then again, we don’t do the job for the praise. If they know it was us, we’re not doing our job right.”
He smiled again at her and somewhere behind his expression, he knew Rose Belikov wouldn't just be another face in his ever-changing department.
Lieutenant JG Ryan Kellerman
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Valkyrie
Lieutenant JG Rosaline Belikov
Encryption Specialist
USS Valkyrie
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