StarFleet Intelligence Files - Too Many Missing p7
For the next five minutes, Indy and Commander Abraham Jones recounted what had happened since they had last spoken. Indy listened to the commander's bantering until he started to get the feeling that Jones was skipping around the heart of the subject. He decided to test his hypothesis by fixing Jones with an icy stare and inquired, "What's the story?"
Jones went silent and began to chew on his lower lip. "Admiral Floyd said you were quick on the uptake."
Indy smiled and took a seat in front of the desk. "That's why they pay me the big bucks."
"I guess so," Jones concluded, and then frowned, "I think we have pirates roaming the triangle."
Well, that's one way to get my attention. Indy thought. "Tell me about it." Jones handed the Captain a data pad then called up the case files. Within minutes, he was describing how four independent freighters had been hijacked by pirates while enroute to Remfry, a colony world that was located in the triangle. When they examined the cargo manifest's they found, among the mundane luxuries and trade goods, shipments of life saving drugs, dilithium crystals, phaser pistols, rifles, and power packs, environmental suits, and body armor. Upon seeing the latter, Indy frowned, he didn't like the idea of pirates armed with Star Fleet weaponry. "How many pirates? How many ships?"
"Unknown,” Jones stated, if they had that information, they could end it, once and for all.
Indy closed his eyes and wondered about the ships, "Have the Klingon or Romulan Fleets reported any missing ships?"
Jones smiled deviously, "Officially, no. However, our friends on Q’onos reported that two K'Vort class cruisers never returned from a training deployment."
Indy grinned, friends on Q’onos was a nomenclature for spies, in this case, one of four line families that knew that the Empire's best hope for survival lay in avoiding war with the Federation. Then he frowned again as he remembered that the larger bird of prey carried a crew of two hundred, and two ships were missing. From that, he deduced that they weren't dealing with small timers, but a large army. He didn't like that possibility and told Jones as much, "What are we supposed to do if the pirates control the K'vort's, wave our ID's and hope they run? Except for Joel's men, my people are Intel and Science, not security. If it comes to a fight, all we can hope is to hold them off and wait for help."
"Normally, yes, but for this trip," Jones always called missions' trips, "you'll have help."
