Posted April 4, 2023, 2:17 p.m. by Civilian Alston 'Fox' Mace (Colonial Intelligence Agency Asset) (Steve Johnson)
Posted by Civilian Jason Reilly (Assistant Director - Colonial Intelligence) in A Fox Enters Stage Left
Posted by Civilian Alston ‘Fox’ Mace (Colonial Intelligence Agency Asset) in A Fox Enters Stage Left
Posted by Civilian Jason Reilly (Assistant Director - Colonial Intelligence) in A Fox Enters Stage Left
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Alston sat down in the pilots chair on his small freighter, and flipped a few switches as the panels chirped at him. It wasn’t a lot of ship, but it was his, and the ship had gotten him through quite a few scrapes. But after the last couple of weeks traveling out to Oed V, he was ready to get out and stretch his legs. Breath some fresh air and all, he made a mental note to have the environmental controls looked at soon.His trip was almost over, with the computer letting him know that they were on final approach to the planet. Grabbing his coffee cup, he took a large drink before setting it up on the console.
=^= Unidentified spacecraft, this is Oed V Space Control. You have entered Oed V controlled space. Identify yourself and state your business. =^=
=^= Control this is the freighter Foxhole. Enroute to Oed V to negotiate a contract. =^= Tapping a few commands, Alston sent a copy of the cover sheet from the proposed contract he had received. It wasn’t much, and had sections redacted from it, but it had the right clearance codes attached indicating it was a government contract.
Normally he wouldn’t have even looked twice at the contract he had been sent. He was out of that game, doing mostly smaller work for the time being. There was still plenty of small colonies and worlds that could use the extra hand every now and then on the far side of the Federation. But even he had heard of the statement read in the Federation Council, and well, the thought of the colony thumbing it’s nose at the Federation tickled him.
There was also the fact that not only had the contract been specifically addressed to him, it had been rushed through his network of contacts to make sure it got in front of him as quickly as possible. Someone at the colony was specifically looking for him. He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but it intrigued him enough to make the trip all the way out to Oed V.
=^= Foxhole, you are cleared for landing. I am transmitting landing coordinates now. Welcome to Oed V. =^=
=^= Thank you Control. I’m looking forward to my visit. =^=
Soon. Soon he would find out what was big enough that they felt like they had to drag his butt across the Federation for this job. And he really hoped that he wouldn’t end up over his head on this one.
Alston Mace - Freighter Owner
OOC: Cheers Steve! Almost dead on for ACS Comms! Well done sir!
Condor
OOC: Thanks! I hope I didn’t steal your thunder!
IC:
As the ship settled down onto the landing pad, Alston started to flip switches on the overhead console, powering down certain ship systems, and setting others to standby. The ever present whine of the ship started to wind down, into a barely audible hum, as the ship settled onto the pad.As he finished off the landing protocols, he could finally look out the front windows of his freighter, out across the spaceport. Of course he had been pushed off to one of the farthest, smaller pads. But that was also the nature of the business. He was essentially a nobody here, and it was nice to have a little anonymity here while he can. Sure there was probably someone curious about the contract cover sheet he had sent over. But a freighter, with a pending contract, it was most likely he was here to negotiate a new trade route or something.
With a flip of the last switch, Alston stood up from the pilot’s seat. He grabbed his coat off the back of the chair and slid it on. For a moment he contemplated if he should arm himself. It took only a moment before he settled on just sliding a short fixed blade knife into a sheath along the back of his belt. Oed V was supposed to be safe enough, and it probably would only bring up to many questions at customs, and from the local law enforcement, if he was walking around carrying anything more.
A quick check that his communicator was in his pocket, and a small PADD with the relevant documents was in his jacket pocket, he headed out into the space port, and on his way to find out more about this contract.
Alston Mace - Freighter Owner?
A voice said “Excuse me, sir… you can’t park that thing here. Its a tow-away zone.” The speaker was an average height human male in his early to mid thirties. He had a friendly smile on his face as he pushed off from the stack of crates he had been leaning on. Dressed in a very nice suit, he said “Jason Reilly.” and he extended a hand. “Senior Vice President at Venice, Justin, and Kevin Consulting.” The company name matched the header of the contract Mace had been sent. “I was hoping to go over any questions you might have with regards to our proposal, Captain. And I do know your time is valuable, so if you’d like to follow me we can get to the office and finalize any outstanding issues. This way.” and he gestured towards a far door and began walking. His gait was easy and unhurried, but the practiced eye that knew what to look for would know the suited figure was no Executive VP.
“If you are hungry, I know a good place for lunch. Other wise we’ll just transport to the office directly. Your call.” Mr. Reilly said.
Reilly, Deputy Director - CIA
“Strange, I thought they said the white zone was for loading and unloading of passengers, though maybe it was the yellow zone,” Alston said with a smirk.
“Alston Mace,” he said as he took Jason’s hand shook it solidly, he could tell from the way Jason walked that he was as just as much an executive as the consulting firm was a real company. One of these days someone would come up with a better shell company then a consulting firm, or a transport company (not that he could really give them much shade on that). The suit was a nice touch, though maybe a bit over the top, though he might have been influenced by his own dislike of ties. These days he went with a more relaxed look, such as the black pants, shirt and full zip jacket (left unzipped of course) he was currently wearing. It was simple, didn’t stand out, but at the same time they were well cut, and in good condition. Everything they would expect from successful freighter captain.
He fell into step with Reilly. “Business first, and depending on how that goes I may take you up on your offer for lunch. Need to make sure it’s worth my time to stick around, as you mentioned, my time is valuable.”
Alston Mace - Freighter Owner?
Reilly grinned as they stepped through the door and into a transporter room. “Oh, I think you’ll find the offer worthwhile. Come on. We’ll go down and talk in my office.” He nodded at the transporter tech and in a swirl of lights both men disappeared…
And reappeared in what looked and smelled like a moderately large bathroom. Reilly smiled again and said “My office is to the right and at the end of the hall, if yiu need to use the little boy’s room.” and he chuckled and walked out the door, turning right.
The hall was typical of the executive level of a business. Long, wide, and with doors regularly spaced along both sides. Most of the rooms beyond the doors had a glass wall for the side of the room facing the hall, and most had large windows to the outside opposite the hallway wall.
At the end of the hall stop a single door, and it was through that that Reilly went through.
The office beyond was large, comfortable and had two windows, floor to ceiling, for walls. It was the proverbial ‘corner office’, complete with desk angled to face the door, large couch and seating area opposite the desk, and two comfortable looking chairs in front of the desk. Reilly indicated one, and took a seat behind the desk itself. “So how was your trip out, Mr. Mace?”
Reilly, DD-CIA
Alston let out a low whistle as he walked into the office. He walked over to one of the window walls and looked out at the view.
“Quite the office you have here, though some work might need to be done on the reception area.”
“You didn’t see it, but I hope it will meet with your approval when you do.” Reilly said with a laugh.
Turning he walked over towards the chairs in front of the desk, looking around the entire office as he went, before sitting down in one of them. He leaned back, but didn’t really relax into the chair. This was a completely unknown location, and truthfully he only had a partial idea of where they were based upon the view out of the window. They only called it paranoia when they couldn’t prove that someone was actually out to get you, he preferred to think of it as being prepared for anything.
“Long. I don’t typically make it out to this side of the Federation, and now I remember why. But the contract peaked my interest, and my contacts assured me that it would be worth the time to hear you out. So here I am.
“And I have to admit that I did get a chuckle out of the stunt you all pulled with the Federation Council.” Alston said with a slight grin. “But I’m hoping that you didn’t call me out here just to listen to me grumble about long hauls, or swap war stories…”
Alston Mace - Freighter Owner?
Reilly shook his head slightly and grinned. “That was no stunt. The Governor here is pretty damned determined to either get the Federation to play ball with Oed V as an equal or to get out from under their thumb. And that, unironically, brings us to you. The contract is a temporary job. But a few things you might want to know about the organization offering it…” and Reilly stood up and moved to the chair next to Mace.
“Your employer is the CIA- the Colonial Intelligence Agency. A covert intelligence group founded by Governor Hyrushi, on his own and without any kind of Federation aid. We operate on the colony and it’s system… no where else unless we are dealing with a direct threat to the colony itself. We take no orders or directives from Star Fleet or the Federation, and we are our own animal. Self-funded and answering to the Governor directly. And we are in need of a new Director. We were hoping you might consider the contract as a job interview.”
Jason Reilly, Deputy Director - CIA
Alston tried not to choke as he heard what they were wanting. No wonder why the contract had been so vague, but yet they had gone to such lengths to make sure he got here. Pushing back against the Federation did tickle his fancy, and if he took the gig it would make him even happier to poke them in the eye. But one question still remained.
“Why me? I sympathize with your situation, and appreciate the vote of confidence. But I’ve been officially out of the game for years now.”
Alston Mace - For Hire?
© 1991-2024 STF. Terms of Service
Version 1.15.11
RSS Feed