The Search for Max

Posted on Mon Feb 5th, 2024 @ 11:04pm by Commander Grace Vetur

842 words; about a 4 minute read

ON

Grace materialized in her quarters. It was the middle of the night on the Ontario and that was the safest place to not be noticed just yet. She would make sure everything was going well, and let Yiv know she was back, but she had a more urgent priority.

She only had 24 hours to find Max Hunter and get an answer from him. She had no doubt Thayne Kilgore would do as he promised. The pirate was ruthless. She rubbed her arms as she paced, mentally running through all the places she could look for him. From what she'd heard, he could be anywhere. As the head of fleet intelligence's covert operations, he was often out of touch.

She sat down at her computer and contacted Starfleet Command. A woman with a thin face and salt-and-pepper hair pulled back into a tight bun answered. "Starfleet. How may I direct your call?"

"I need to speak to Admiral Max Hunter," she said when the communication opened.

"Admiral Hunter is unavailable."

"When will he become available? This is urgent."

"Everyone who wants to contact the admiral says its urgent. Give me your name and rank and I'll leave him a message. Someone should get back to you in a week or two--unless he's on assignment somewhere."

"I need to speak with him immediately. Is there someone else I should contact?"

The woman sighed. "Forwarding you to Starfleet Intelligence."

This time the she was transferred to a young Andorian. "How may I help you?"

"I need to speak with Admiral Hunter. It's important."

"Admiral Hunter is on assignment. I'll send your contact information to his office, but it may take some time. Lieutenant tr'Allaz is available. I'll transfer you."

"No, thank you." Grace ended the communication. She didn't know if she should tell them it was about Thayne Kilgore or if that was for Max alone. She got up and began to pace again.

She needed to think. There had to be someone who would take her seriously.

She sat down at her desk again. She didn't want to wake Yiv just yet. He was her intelligence officer, but he wasn't likely to have a direct line to the admiral, either.

Maybe she should not go from the top down. Maybe she should contact the fleet commander.

Kathryn Burke answered on the fourth ring. "Admiral Burke." Her hair was mussed like she'd been asleep.

"Admiral, I apologize for waking you, but I have a matter of some urgency. I'm the acting captain of the USS Ontario. I'm trying to find someone and I need your help."

Kathryn recognized a tone in the acting captain's voice that caught her attention. "How can I help you? Is it Captain Michaels?"

"No. The doctor thinks he will need a long recovery, but he's stable. That's not why I'm calling." Grace hesitated. "Do you know an Admiral Max Hunter?"

There was a brief pause before Kathryn replied. "I've met him, yes. Why do you need to speak to the Admiral?"

"Well..." Was it okay for her to tell Admiral Burke? At this point Grace was desperate and she knew that she could trust her.

She took a deep breath and told the admiral everything.

"Thayne Kilgore... Yes, you have reason to be concerned. Did he say why he wants Max to get this woman for him?"

"No, but he's certain the admiral will know." Grace didn't like asking, and she half wished she wouldn't hear from Max. "I don't trust him. I don't know why he wants this Morgana, but he's angry about something."

"Thayne Kilgore is always angry about something. He doesn't need a reason." Kathryn knew more about the situation than she could admit, but anything to do with Kilgore concerned her. "I'm not sure where Max Hunter is right now, but I know who might. I'll contact them immediately. You have 24 hours?"

Grace nodded. "Yes. That's what he said."

"All right. Hopefully, you'll hear from him, but the admiral does have to disappear for weeks at a time as part of his job. All I can promise is to try." Kathryn could usually reach him, but there were times when he had to be out of touch.

"Thank you, admiral. That's all I ask." At least this was the first person to give her any hope at all, even if it wasn't much.

"One way or another, someone will contact you in the allotted time." Burke glanced off to the side. "I see that it's very late on the Ontario. Try to get some sleep and let me know where this goes."

"I will. Thank you again." When Burke ended the communication, Grace put her head on her desk and gave herself a moment to acknowledge the stress of the past day and her concerns about the mysterious Morgana and for the safety of her crew. Then she stood up, straightened her uniform, and headed for the bridge to inform the OOD that she had returned.

OFF

Lieutenant Commander Grace Vetur
Commanding Officer
USS Ontario

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