Mission Briefing

By the time Jack got back to the *Firefly* the evening sun was in full effect. The crowds who had come to examine the ship had dispersed and cargo containers Klass had spoke about were being loaded onboard.

Beka and t’Pek were supervising the loading, whilst Trance strode around the landing pad looking nervous. What no-one but Jack knew was that the containers that we’re being loaded were dummies, containing only enough supplies to make them look genuine. Stryker approached the crew and enquired about how the loading was going.

“How much longer until we’re loaded up ?” He asked.

“We should be done in about and hour.” Beka replied.

“Then we’ll eat in ninety minutes.” Jack stated. “I need to have a word with you all.”

Beka didn’t like the sound of this; crew meetings usually meant something was wrong. Jack usually made most of the decisions about jobs, but Beka was usually let in on everything before he made his final decision.

Ninety minutes later, Captain Stryker dropped the bad news on the crew.

“This job is going to be a hard one, we’re heading for the Gamma quadrant and I think you all know what that means.” Jack stated.

“Yeah…. Regular patrols and cargo inspections.” Harper announced. “I hate it when the yellow-shirts come onboard and start scanning the ship looking for hidden compartments.”

“Well they’ve never found one yet.” Beka remarked. “Else we’d all be in a Federation penal colony about now.”

“We shouldn’t have too many problems with Federation patrols on this mission, but Harper I’d like you to prepare one of your little devices just in case.” Jack suggested. “As far as everyone is concerned, this is a mission to transport medical supplies to a Federation Starbase and we have all the documentation to confirm that.”

“Then why the high price ?” Dylan asked.

“I was coming to that.” Jack said.

Beka picked up on the tone in Jack’s voice, she knew that tone.

“How much are we being paid ?” She enquired.

“Ten bars, upon delivery of our passengers.” Jack replied. “Which is more than enough to keep the ship running until the next job comes along.”

“Passenger !” Harper exclaimed. “What passenger ?. No…don’t tell me, we’re double-bunking again.”

“Mister Harper is right.” Jack replied. “We’re taking on passengers, about twenty to be precise. Which means not only will we double-bunking as Harper puts it, but I also need the cargo bay ready to carry that many passengers almost as soon as we dock at the Starbase. We have enough supplies onboard to sustain everyone, so it shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Why are we doing a job for ten bars ?” Beka enquired. “We’re risking our necks here, plus we were originally offered far more.”

“That’s the second thing I was going to tell you about.” Jack continued. “There’s a bonus to this job, which will be worth far more than the latinum we were originally offered and something Mister Harper will like I’m sure.”

“Three six foot blondes, who love short, funny guys.” Harper remarked.

“No. Jack replied with a mock laugh. “A Klingon cloaking device; class four according to my contact. Seems a Federation patrol found one hidden in a former Maquis base, still in its packing crate marked farming equipment. The device is currently in storage on the same Starbase where we will be picking up our passengers and they are willing to swap the device for passage back to the Alpha quadrant. We’ll also have access to the Starbase’s supply of spare parts, enough to keep Mister Harper working for months.”

“So we’re heading for a Federation Starbase in the Gamma quadrant to pick up some passengers and bring them back to the Alpha quadrant.” Trance remarked. “Can anyone tell me why this makes me nervous ?”

“It does sound fish.” Beka admitted. “And I’ve never heard of the Federation just handing over restricted technology to a backwater cargo runner.”

“These passengers are effectively under siege according to our contact.” Jack stated. “They need to get off the Starbase and away from the Gamma quadrant ASAP. I know this is a dangerous mission, but we’ve got all the permits and permissions that will get us to the front door. Getting out will be a little harder, but if we do it right we can get this job done without any problems. Does anyone have a problem ?, because you can leave at any time, I’ll pay what I owe you and we can go our separate ways.”

No one protested and Jack was proud that he knew his crew so well. He’d expected Trance to question his judgement, but having her on edge made her very formidable. Beka too would have spoken out against the plan if she thought it was suicide, which it was.

“Then we leave at dawn.” Jack stated. “Get some sleep and I’ll see you all in the morning.”

The crew finished off their meal and headed for their quarters, leaving just Dylan, Beka and Jack at the table.

“Beka are you coming.” Dylan asked, rising from the table to leave.

“I’ll be there in two minutes.” Beka replied, watching Dylan walk away.

As soon as Dylan was out of sight, Beka pounced on Jack.

“So what’s the real story ?” She enquired. “You know a lot more about these passengers we’re picking up don’t you ?”

“All I know is that they’re uncomfortable about some of the Federation’s practises in the Gamma Quadrant and have spoken out from time to time.” Jack admitted. From what our contact has told me, the Gamma quadrant is virtual under martial law. The Federation is clamping down on anyone who speaks out against them, that’s not the Federation I know.”

“So that’s why you’re worried.” Beka suggested. “We’re going up against the Federation. We’ve done it before and survived, we’ll do it again.”

“I know, but this is a good crew Beka and they deserve better than to be wanted by the Federation.” Jack replied. “Or floating dead in space.”

“We’re a good crew because you picked the best.” Beka stated. “Where would we all be without you and this ship ? I’d still be working of Zack, Dylan would be flying cargo somewhere, Harper would be still tinkering in some engine room, Trance would still be frozen on that asteroid and who knows what t’Pek would be doing.”

“I know.” Jack said, rising from his seat. “I’m going to enter the flight plan into the helm console and head for bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Good night Captain.” Beka replied, rising from her own seat and heading for the quarters she shared with Dylan.