OFF: to keep it easy, I just post here that here starts another meeting in this office than the one posted in this topic before http://expansionfleet.sparks.priorweb.be/ikonboard/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

Svensson, Chekov and Rugal entered the office.

"So, here we are. I believe we have some things to discuss.  Mr. Rugal, what are your suggestions on how we handle this situation with the Cardassians turning the natives of that planet into slaves?"

For long moments, Svensson stays silent and burried into thoughts.
He then turns a computer panel to him and starts pushing some buttons.
Again a long silence, and his XO is starting to wonder if he even realizes they are still in meeting. And right when Mr. Chekov wants to speak up and ask what Svensson's decision is, he lifts his hand to hold him back from speaking.

"It is good to have access to all the files in the databases, including those that are not supposed to exist."

He pushes a button and a stellar map appears on a wall screen.

"What you see there is the location of the Dark Passage and our projected course toward it.  Now, if I magnify," he pushes another button to magnify the map, "you see that this stellar phenomena did not steal its name.  There is a small passway of clear space inside the phenomena, bordered by asteroids on one side, and clusters on the other side.  There is quite some magnetic distortion in those areas, which makes it even difficult to have long-range communications.
And Vontak Nor is located right in the deepest middle of that narrow corridor inside that phenomena."

He points out the location of Vontak Nor on the screen.

"And THAT is already one excuse to go there ourselves, instead of contacting them over subspace channel. We can claim that because of magnetic distortions, we were unable to hail them and so we decided to go there ourselves."

He pushes again some buttons and now the panel displays some scientific information about the Dark Passage on the map.

"We could use transdimensional warp to travel to the Dark Passage, but we would have to drop out of warp near its borders still.  The strong magnetic disturbance in the Dark Passage does not only disrupt subspace communication, but also warp fields.  This means that warp speed might be possible there, but it is a high risk. It could break a ship to pieces if it crosses an area with too strong magnetic interference. Transdimensional warp is probably even more dangerous, though it would not be a problem to pass by the Dark Passage with transdimensional warp, but we can't drop out of warp INSIDE the Dark Passage, if you know what I mean."

Then, at last, he pushes again some buttons and a very different course projection is showed on the map.

"What you see here is the course of the U.S.S. Evolution on its previous mission. This information is normally strictly classified, no doubt you understand. There seems to have been a friendly contact between the USS Evolution and Vontak Nor, and the Cardassians actually saved the Evolution from a very hostile species called the Loxians - who seem to reside more to the north of the Dark Passage but claim the whole area their own.
So we could use the excuse of paying a friendly visit in name of Starfleet to thank them for their help rendered to the USS Evolution in the past, and that we are also there to investigate the possible threath of the Loxians. If we can get them to help us on that, we possibly might be granted access to their computer system, and then it's only a small trick for me to break into their restricted areas and classified files.

What do you think?"

"Ok then, phasers are not a good option. Perhaps we can beam the Cardassian population from the surface at once, and lock them in a cargo bay on our ship?"

*reads thoughtfully the informations*

"I have heard about Cardassian activity in the Dark Passage, my informants had told me they have a station there called Vontak Nor.  But we are still quite some distance away from the Dark Passage and what this information tells me, these Cardassians appear not to work together with the ones of Vontak Nor. In fact, one doesn't know about the presence of the other even. Their Intelligence is clearly lacking, compared to ours.
Perhaps these Cardassians here are not even working for Central Command, but are similar to what Starfleet once called the Maquis, and they prefer to occupy planets like they once did with Bajor. Do I understand that correctly?"

"We have to keep the possibility in mind that they are outlaws, and dont intend to take orders from any Cardassian offical at all. They might be exiles from the Cardassian Union, and in that case, it means we WILL face resistance. But then again, this ship is capable of handling a blow, so I suppose we try to talk to them first before going to aggressive action.
But we have to keep one thing in mind before everything else: the safety of the local population. They have been done harm more than enough, and we should not make it worse."

"Then what do you propose we should do about the situation? Surely we can't let them continue like this."

"I don't know if these Loxians can be trusted. Records tell they are most violent and hostile, and are not open to reason so far.  We might finding ourselves backstabbed in the end, perhaps.  But then again, risks exists to be taken.  Let's do it!"

*Svensson leaves the room and returns to the bridge too*

OFF: continues back in the mission topic now.

"Yes, this is a dilemma indeed. During my long years in the different secret departments of Intelligence, I have learned that often one can achieve more by operating on his own, than by allowing others to interfere too.
What I mean is... right now the Cardassians don't know we are here... so we have the element of surprise. They think we are not here, and so they will not try to hide things from us, which they would do without a doubt if they knew of our presence.
If we contact Vontak Nor and they know about this, definitely they will warn these Cardassians here and our element of surprise is gone.
If Vontak Nor does not know about this, they may still decide to warn these Cardassians, even if they don't tell us so.

And contacting Starfleet Command... what will they do? They're just a bunch of bureaucrats that need years to make a decision. It is people like us here who are sent secretly throughout the galaxy, to set things right and ensure its safety before anyone even will have a chance to know there was ever a danger. And if Starfleet Command decides to do something about it, it would be people like us they would send anyway, so we might as well do the job while we're at it, and not wait for Starfleet Command until it's too late!"

*Svensson needed to calm down and took a few deep breaths. There was a short silence, and he was drown in thoughts for long moments. Then he spoke up again*

"If we could somehow find out what Vontak Nor knows and doesn't know, without giving away that we know about it too... but a thing like that can't be done over subspace. We need to meet those Cardassians at Vontak Nor personally. How far are we off from Vontak Nor and the Dark Passage?"

I would like everyone of the USS Phoenix crew to reply to this topic. State which job and rank you have.

So far, I know of the active people the following crew complement:
CO: Peter Svensson
XO: Alexei Chekov
CMO: Becker
Tac/Sec: Max Brooks
Sec: Huw
Helm: Mason

Now, when the new base is constructed, the crew roster will be looking like this:

Peter Svensson: CO base
Max Brooks: XO base / tac-sec department chief ?

USS Phoenix crew:
CO: Alexei Chekov
XO: Becker
CMO: Becker
Tac/Sec: Huw (will be promoted in rank)
Helm: Mason

We don't have an active engineer, nor operations or science officer. Someone should be signing up soon for a new position.
If anyone who is supposed to be among the crew and hasnt been mentioned here, is still around and willing to post, please let me know asap as well. Thanks.

My report on the Phoenix is in the status reports forum now http://expansionfleet.sparks.priorweb.be/ikonboard/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>

OFF: Just to let you all know, the first Expansion Yearbook is now available on the Expansion online store. It includes a bunch of articles and biographies, and alot of "mission logs" too of missions of the past year. And there's gonna be a second one later this year, including lots of missions from the Avalon, Starphoenix, Intel, FSS and Omega division.
Don't forget that when you buy a yearbook, you help support expansionfleet.com  
Just check here: http://www.cafeshops.com/expansion.8971411" target="_blank">http://www.cafeshops.com/expansion.8971411  

OFF: sorry to hear that bad news, Chekov, and I hope he will get better soon. I fully understand your situation, your place is by his side now. Your place here is kept safe, so don't worry about that.

"Very good, everything goes according to plan. How long before the entire base should be fully operational?"

=^= Svensson to Chekov =^=
Good job. Keep at it. Engineering is performing a structural integrity check as we speak.
=^= Svensson out =^=

"Good job, Ms. Voya. Forseeing this may have saved us alot of trouble, work and time. Begin installing the inner hull plating using the transporters. You'll have to modify the transporter frequency for this."

"Ms. Voya, may I suggest you and Mr. Huw help working on finding a suitable asteroid in where we can build our base? Dr. Becker, are you all right? You look a little white."