Episode 1.4. "Passing"
Admiral Quinn stood up from his desk as Oren-De entered his office on Earth Stardock. The admiral glanced over to Commander Sulu, who acknowledged the nonverbal command with a nod and quickly ushered two officers he was speaking with out of the room. Oren-De glanced at the departing officers as the doors shut behind them, and it all caused him to wonder what this debriefing was really about. He suppressed his curiosity however, and stood at attention.
"Commander Oren-De reporting, sir. I was informed that you wished to see me."
Quinn nodded. "Yes, Commander. Please, have a seat. Can I get you anything to drink?"
Normally Oren-De would have politely refused, but all that he had had to deal with since rescuing the crew of the New Orleans was beginning to take it's toll on him. "Coffee, sir. Black."
"Excellent. Two coffees, black," said Quinn to his desktop replicator. On the side of the desk, two coffees in white mugs that bore the Starfleet insignia shimmered into being. The admiral passed one toward Oren-De, who accepted it gratefully.
"Thank you, sir," he said simply, and took a drink while he waited for the admiral to begin. While he had only been introduced to what Humans called 'coffee' during his time at the Academy, Oren-De had found it very similar to a Giiyen, a stimulating drink from Enhasa. In addition to being useful when a day was wearing long on him, coffee also provided him with a brief taste of home.
Quinn took a quick sip of his own drink before cutting to the chase. "As you now know, Starfleet JAG has taken custody of Lieutenant Calvin. I expect that his trial will begin quickly. As you also know, Lieutenant Matoya is being called as an expert witness in the case regarding his Borg... program. Until the trial is over, the Pandora is to remain here at Earth Stardock."
Oren-De gave a slight frown. "Acknowledged, sir. However... may I ask as to why the Pandora, along with the Kirk, was required to transport Lieutenant Matoya here?"
"Yes, it does seem wasteful, doesn't it," Quinn noted, taking another sip of his coffee. "We decided that, given your science officer's knowledge of the Borg, Calvin's program, and the lengths the Klingons have demonstrated they're willing to go to acquire both as demonstrated by their attack on the Kinet IV science outpost, it would be best that she and Calvin have an escort. The matter is sufficiently sensitive that Starfleet Intelligence insisted."
Oren-De nodded. He still didn't agree with the decision, but he was appreciative for the justification all the same. The admiral continued.
"As for why you're remaining here until the conclusion of the hearing, the reason is two-fold. Primarily, I don't want to waste even more manpower escorting your Matoya back to the Pandora after you've returned to the Klingon front. However, there is another matter that, given its sensitive nature, I wanted to speak with you about personally."
Admiral Quinn tapped a button his desk. "Crewman Donovan, bring Lieutenant Commander Lok in, please."
Oren-De looked over his shoulder toward the office's door in surprise as a young crewman escorted his first officer and Chief of Engineering, War'en Lok, in. The Trill, who seemed just as surprised as Oren-De, approached and stood at attention next to his captain's seat. Oren-De wondered if this had anything to do with the discussion he had had with War'en recently regarding Oren-De's treatment of the crew.
"I apologize for all the secrecy, but this seemed the most appropriate way to inform both of you of the current situation," Admiral Quinn began as he motioned to the monitor behind him. With another tap on his console, the monitor blinked to life with the dossier image of a Trill. He looked to be in his late middle-age, perhaps a little younger than Quinn. War'en immediately recognized the person on the screen, but he kept silent as the Admiral continued.
"This is Rear Admiral Izen Sadda, of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. His chief project, on which he has been working since his days at the Academy, has been the adaptation of Borg technology to Starfleet designs. A great deal of his work has been key to the development of Starfleet's personal shield technology, as well as the development of the Federation's transwarp network."
War'en nodded. Oren-De glanced at his first officer before returning his attention back to Quinn, relieved that this apparently had nothing to do with his earlier discussions with War'en.
"These days, in addition to that work , he was also involved in analyzing the Borg technology we recovered from the ships that attacked the Vega colony."
War'en's's face became suspicious as he picked up on Quinn's language. "Excuse me, Admiral. He was working on this?"
The older Trill nodded gravely as he turned to look directly at War'en. "30 hours ago, Rear Admiral Sadda was killed in an accident. A magnetic lift malfunctioned and sped out of control. Sadda happened to be in front of it, and the lift crushed him against a wall. He died of massive internal injuries."
Oren-De was surprised to see War'en become incredibly pale in the face. Indeed, it was a terrible accident, but it seemed odd that simply being told about it would put his first officer at such unease. He looked back at Admiral Quinn in confusion. "Sir, while it is a loss for Starfleet that Rear Admiral Sadda died so suddenly, I don't understand what this has to do with myself and Mr. Lok."
Admiral Quinn was about to speak before War'en cut in.
"Read Admiral Sadda is... was... joined with a symbiont. Now that he's dead, I'm to be the next host."
