A TIME AND A PLACE: 3

by D. Maxwell

"Phew, now that was a difficult situation," Captain Gerrold Allan of the Starfleet Command Internal Crew Registry thought as he walked over to his shuttle and got on board looking back to the apartment he had just vacated. He had unwittingly given out confidential information concerning a recent attack on Federation Starships by the Borg to a member of the public, something they were not supposed to be told. The United Federation of Planets and Starfleet Command took great pains to ensure certain information was kept from the normal citizens of Earth, not only to keep people at ease with how the universe was turning, but also because it was not important for them to know. Allan could only think of the old woman calling up Federation and political leaders and giving them a hard time, crying out about this stemming of knowledge concerning the Wolf 359 attack and how all the important elements of this confrontation were being withheld from the community, including the local news service, who appeared to ignorant about all the details as well. If she did that, they would trace all of her knowledge of the event back to him, then he would really be in for it.

Damn, he was chosen for this job because he was able to keep his mouth shut. Starfleet Command often informed the ICR of the goings on in space, but it was imperative that none of the information would be leaked to the general populace, giving the people of Earth the feeling of complete security. After all, the nerve centre of the UFP and Starfleet Command was based here, everyone had to be given the illusion that they were 100% protected from the unknowns of the cosmos. No one would know of the real wars being fought throughout the galaxies and of the constant battles being undertaken by Starfleet. Only the accomplishments and successes by the Federation would be reported with all honesty and enthusiasm to the people, which was how Starfleet Command and the UFP wanted it. Allan had to admit though, Starfleet didn't always tell the ICR everything that went on. Even as a Captain in his department, he was not always privy to all the bits and pieces of information that was taking place.

What did Allan care, he had his job, that was enough and even though it wasn't full of excitement, it kept him in a position where he didn't become one of the statistics that was constantly dealing with, which made him feel contented. Flying around in Starships was risky business. More people were killed on Starships in the service of Starfleet than anybody could begin to imagine. What with this Wolf 359 thing. Thousands of people killed. The ICR was practically run off its feet dealing with the crisis. The Hanson woman whom he had just left was his 28th call for the day and he still had another 46 to do before dinner tonight. He began to sort out the yellow envelopes, hundreds of them all saying exactly the same thing:

BY ORDER OF STARFLEET COMMAND

STARDATE 44001.4

It is with deepest regret that we must inform you of the tragic death of (name inserted here) whilst on duty in the service of Starfleet Command and the United Federation of Planets. Let it be known that he/she died in the line of his/her duty and has been since been awarded the STARFLEET COMMAND DISTINGUISHED ORDER OF SERVICE Medallion.

Allan looked at the envelopes and sighed. This was going to take forever, it was his department's job to personally hand over these letters to a dead serviceman's relative. It was a tradition that dated back hundreds of years. It was long, tedious and uninteresting, all the while having to put up with a family's anguish with the news of a lost loved one. At least he didn't have to service any of the other planets. He just dealt with the people here on Earth, that was one consolation. He was glad that a large portion of the people killed at Wolf 359 lived off world, which also made his job a lot easier.

He scratched his neck below his collar, damn uniform, he never did like its design, although he wore Captain's pips, the silver band around his lower left sleeve denoted that he was strictly from the Administration section of Starfleet Command and not an official Starfleet officer as such. He could not simply take command of a Starfleet vessel, as it was, a Starship Captain could in fact order him around. However on Earth, in this part of the world, Starship captains were seldom seen, which did not bother him one little bit.

"Too busy flying around the universe trying to be heroes." He muttered to himself. He was about to launch his shuttle toward his next port of call when his transmitter beeped. He pressed a button and a face of a woman appeared on the screen in front of him.

"Allan here." he said.

"Captain Allan, you are requested to return to headquarters right away."

"What's the problem?" he said, disinterested.

"One moment sir, I shall transfer you to Major Tannish," her image left the screen and was replaced with an elderly man.

"Gerry, how are you?" Major Tannish asked.

"Not too bad, what's up?"

"It's this Wolf 359 business," for an instant, Allan's blood ran cold. Surely the Hanson woman hadn't contacted his department already, he had only just left her flat a few minutes ago, he started feeling a little unwell,

"What about it?" was the only reply he could come up with,

"Some bad news is coming down, I've just received word, through an unofficial channel, that this Borg ship is on its way here. It's expected to arrive in the next hour or so. It would appear that it wasn't destroyed at Wolf 359 as the rumours had it. In any case, I am recalling all of our people to Command Centre so we can take shelter while we still have the time. So you'd better get back here." It annoyed Allan that Starfleet Command had not officially told his department what actually happened to this Borg, the rumour floating around saying it had been destroyed was obviously a red herring probably started by Starfleet. "Also," Tannish continued "The Starship Enterprise is apparently also on its way and should arrive not long after the Borg do. Let's hope they can do something to stop them."

Allan let out a small sigh of relief, at least Tannish had not heard about his little blurb to Mrs Hanson, he rested a lot easier.

"This attack is really going to set us back you realise? We already have too much to catch up on, I'm barely able to keep up as it is." Allan moaned.

"I'm aware of that Gerry, but if we're going to get a kicking, I want all my people put away in a safe place." reluctantly Allan began to see the point. Damn, as if this Borg wasn't causing enough trouble. First they kill enough people to keep him doing his house calls for the next 2 months, then they decide to annoy him here. Damn them, no respect for honest workers.

"OK, I'll head on over."

"Thanks Gerry, I'll see you soon." His image faded. Allan was alone again.

Damn Borg, who were they anyway. It didn't matter, Allan already realised that because of this supposed attack, he was going to be late for his dinner, which he was not impressed about. He looked at all the envelopes again, all the people he would have to visit, all the litres of tears he would have to wade through over the next 8 weeks or so at least. He shook his head in disgust.

He thought once again of the old Hanson woman and her two dead sons, killed at Wolf 359.

He began to wonder if she was calling anybody now concerning what he had told her. The thought of it began to really annoy him, he looked over to the flat again.

"Damn you, I'm only trying to do my job. It's hard enough to do as it is, without everyone ganging up on me!" He angrily ignited his shuttle and lifted off in the direction of the Internal Crew Registry Central Command.