Border Dispute Outline

Introduction

The ship has responded to a distress call from USS Skylark, a Hermes-class science vessel conducting a survey near the Klingon border. They were attacked by a Klingon D-7 battlecruiser, which claimed they had violated Klingon territory. The ship was seriously damaged and much of the crew injured or killed, including the captain, but thanks to their superior sensors they were able to hide inside the dense rings of a gas giant until help arrived.

The Klingon cruiser is still present and this system is within the disputed area between the Klingons and Federation. They insist that they have a right to take the Skylark as a prize and its crew as prisoners. Complicating matters is that the Skylark's CO had time to encrypt the main computer to prevent its contents from being seized, which has impaired the ship's ability to function. An added issue is that Starfleet Command's mission plans do not show this system as part of the survey, specifically because of the dispute, and yet the copy on file on the Skylark indicates they are where they're supposed to be.

Starfleet Command's orders are difficult: rescue the crew of the Skylark without provoking a fight with the Klingons. No one wishes to risk starting a new conflict until Starfleet is ready. However, the safety of the crew and preventing the capture of the Skylark is a priority.

Brief Outline:

• Act 1 - Immediate rescue of the Skylark and ward off Klingon attack
• Act 2 - Investigate signs of sabotage and discover evidence of a Klingon spy aboard
• Act 3 - Prevent the spy from escaping while getting away from or otherwise foiling the Klingons

Potential character beats:

• Memories of the war resurfacing
• Concerns about the potential for a new conflict
• Debate over Starfleet's mission of exploration versus defense
• Doing things subtle and by the book or daring and making it up on the fly

Detailed Outline

This is a more detailed outline of what I have planned, but things may change depending on what we come up with as we write.

Act 1

For the first part of the mission, the focus is triage on the Skylark. There are emergency repairs needed and rescues to carry out. The Klingons are lurking just outside weapons range but making demands and threatening violence if any 'contraband or criminals' are removed. Negotiations are needed to get permission to transfer wounded to the ship.

Department plot ideas:

• Engineering / Ops: emergency repairs
• Security: keep an eye on the Klingons, assist with search & rescue
• Medical: treat wounded, transfer some to the ship
• Science: Assist ops and security. Observe the Klingon ship. Help deal with navigating the rings and getting transporters to work.
• Helm: pilot ship and shuttles in ring, do EVA repairs, retrieve navigation logs from Skylark
• Command: Deal with shouting Klingons. Interview Skylark crew.

Key plot points to hit: the Skylark was definitely not where it was expected. The timing of the attack was also strange - there was no reason for a Klingon cruiser to be in a fairly worthless system.

Act 2

As Act 2 begins, the immediate crisis is over and now the work of getting the Skylark and crew home begins. It is now obvious that someone altered the ship's mission plans to get it to a system where a Klingon ship was laying in wait. Now the Klingons seem to be waiting for something rather than just shooting or leaving. Was the ship sabotaged, and if so by who and for what purpose?

Department plot ideas:

• Command: Bluff the Klingons, plan escape, general organization
• Helm: Plan escape, help survivors
• Engineering: Repair the Skylark, especially engines, and decrypt the main computer.
• Ops / Comms: Assist Engineering, spy on Klingon comms, investigate sabotage
• Science: Plan escape, investigate Skylark sabotage.
• Security: Investigate sabotage, identify possible suspects
• Medical: Treat wounded. Examine Captain Blake's body. Possibly help search for the Klingon.

Plot points:

An examination or autopsy of Captain Blake's body would show that while killed when her head hit a bulkhead, this likely happened during hand-to-hand combat. Her arms and body show several signs that she had been in a fight. Her phaser was found out of its holster and it discharged at least once, not simply falling out when the ship was fired on.

Examination of the navigation records will show that the original files sent by Starfleet Command were altered. This happened when they were received or shortly after. Someone with access to the comms system, navigation charts, or computer could have done it.

A member of the Skylark crew is actually a Klingon infiltrator, or possibly someone with an implanted personality. They were not able to get the data they wanted before the captain encrypted the computer, and the ship managed to evade capture until rescue arrived. Now they are trying to extract the data and make an escape - ideally undetected, but if not, things may get violent.

Potential Suspects:

• Navigation Officer - He's very twitchy and had access to the ship's mission plans and navigation charts. Some people may have an anti-Orion bias and suspect him of being a Syndicate operative. A potential red herring.
• Science Officer - The default spy, a Klingon altered to appear Andorian. He's very bossy about getting access to the ship's computers and as science officer had access to the mission plans.
• Medical officer - A less likely suspect, but she has the opportunity to brainwash someone else, and no one knows that Romulans appear to be Vulcan yet.
• Comms officer - The best placed to alter any incoming orders from Starfleet. Standard Starfleet precautions against Klingon mind alteration may not work on a joined Trill, so she may be a sleeper agent without realizing it.
• One of the dead bridge crew - most had access to the ship's computers, but they are dead now, so if they're the spy they're an unlucky one. However, if someone was brainwashed, their death may cover the traces.

Act 3

Having hopefully identified a suspect or two, it's now a matter of preventing the Klingons from getting the computer data. The easiest way is to fix the Skylark enough to let it run away while our ship provides cover, or repair its weapons so our combined power can force the Klingons away. Otherwise, it becomes a matter of how to sneak the crew off before blowing it up and running away. Either way, if the Klingons suspect anything, they may try to board the Skylark and to take it by force, requiring us to be sneaky. Likewise, if the spy is likely plotting an escape of their own. Ironically, if they just get away, the Klingons would probably leave.

Department plot ideas:

• Helm: Daring escape flying, general assistance
• Engineering: Get ready to run or fight!
• Ops / Comms: Snoop around to identify imposter on the tech side.
• Science: Identify imposter, do sensor stuff to blind the Klingons.
• Security: Capture imposter, potentially do other shooty fighty stuff.
• Medical: Help identify the imposter. Deal with any new wounded from combat.

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