[sb118-ops] Ensign S'zurak - Further Research

[Alex Leatherman]

((Conference Room Six – USS Narendra))

Ensign S’zurak and Lieutenant Evan Ross sat silently at the conference table, the only sounds the faint hum of the ship and the occasional chirp from the console. They were combing through recent reports from the surrounding sectors, searching for anything that hinted at Orion pirate activity or unexplained ambushes.

There was no shortage of data. The proximity to Romulan space meant that every sensor anomaly or stray transmission had drawn someone’s attention. Ross filtered and forwarded the most promising findings to S’zurak, who had long since lost track of how many items sat in his queue. It was more than he anticipated. 

Ross: Found anything yet? 

S’zurak growled low in his throat. Found anything yet? Yes. Found anything he wished to find? Possibly.

S'zurak: I have reviewed several reportss originating from the shipping laness near an assteroid belt. The transsportss appear to have limited choicess for routess… Narrow pathss make them predictable targetss.

From what S’zurak had read, he deduced that this corridor was preferred over passing through the Phaethon Nebula, famed for its hallucinogenic gas clouds and volatile stellar winds.

Ross: I feel like we have a lot of reports from that area. Did you detect any patterns in the confrontations? 

S'zurak: I have taken note that sssome vessels reported communicationss jammed in that corridor. That’s… as far as I’ve gotten.

Ross gave a thoughtful nod. 

Ross: Interesting. You think that's a coincidence? 

S'zurak: Absolutely not. Before I joined Starfleet - when I operated as a bounty hunter - jamming comms was always the firsst sstep in an ambush. You make them silent, you make them vulnerable.

Ross: ?

S’zurak: It warrantss investigation. I sussspect Orion piratess could be operating from within thosse asteroidss.

Ross: ?

S’zurak: I sstill have a hefty backlog of filess. Do you believe we have enough to report on yet?

Ross: ?

Ensign S'zurak

Tactical Officer

Starbase 118 Ops

O240205S13