May I Take A Peek? - Part I

Posted on Sun Jan 13, 2019 @ 5:10am by Lieutenant Alanna Wells & Civilian Jason Haines

1,899 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Doors of Perception
Location: Deck 61, Sciences
Timeline: MD 3 - 1630

As he walked along, Jason thanked the stars that his physical didn't take too long. Even though it was his first day, after his discussion with the Commander, he had given himself a lot to do. Normally he would 'pace' himself and just settle into his quarters, but now he could see why his superiors were concerned with the area.

Stopping at a turbolift, Jason entered and said, "Deck 61."

The computer beeped in compliance and the turbolift started to hum, leaving him with his thoughts. He knew he could have accessed the information he was now looking for easy enough on his own. That said, it wouldn't make a good impression with your crewmates if you just started hacking their files.

The turbolift came to a stop and the doors swished open. Stepping out, Jason smiled as he had come out right near the sciences section and he didn't have to hunt around. He entered the science lab in front of him and a female, Andorian, technician looked up.

"Can I help you Lieutenant?", the tech asked.

"Yes, I am Lieutenant Jason Haines and I am looking for Lieutenant Wells", Jason replied, smiling.

A blonde woman stuck her head out from behind a computer console. "That would be me. How may I help you?"

"I'm the new chief of intel", he replied. "I was wondering if I could get a few minutes to talk to you or at least setup a time to speak with you, if now isn't good."

"Give me two minutes," she said, disappearing behind the console.

Jason nodded with a smirk as she disappeared. He then looked about from where he was. As he suspected, it was quite busy here.

True to her word, two minutes later, she slid out from under the computer and stood, dusting off her uniform trousers. "Okay, now I have some time. My office will be quiet."

Jason followed her, still observing everything.

When she walked into the office, she turned. "Can I get you something from the replicator?"

"A trolan fizz would be great if it is programmed in", Jason replied with a smile. "If not, apple juice will be fine. And I think your hair cleaned out something under the console."

He tapped his hand up to the right side of his head to give her an indication as to where.

She put a hand up to her hair and pulled away a small ball of fuzz. "The dust bunnies must be out and about," she joked, slipping it into a pocket to throw away later. "I'll check to see if there are more later."

She didn't find a trolian fizz in the replicator program, so got him a glass of apple juice. She replicated a glass of apricot juice for herself and set them both on the small table in her office. "So, what can I do for you?"

Jason took a sip of the apple juice.

"Well, as long as the bunnies stay away from my juice", Jason said with a smile. "So, as to why I am here, the work my team and I have been assigned is going to overlap into yours from time to time, especially information from the planet. I wanted to touch-base and setup sharing protocols so to speak and identify areas we might be able to work together on more."

Alanna undid her hair tie and ran her hands through her hair to be sure she didn't have any more dust bunnies. "May I ask what sort of work you'll be doing?" She could definitely use any help he could give her, especially with beefing up security in the restricted areas, but she needed more information first.

"Just about everything except for cleaning the floors from the sounds of it", Jason said. "I better not say that too loud though or someone might tie a broom to my backside so I can sweep as I walk along. The Captain wants me too learn all I can about the various individuals and organizations that have interest on the planet. I don't think we will cross paths too much on that arena, unless you have a big file on everyone. Then Starfleet Intelligence once me to gather as much info on the portals as possible and the threats they may pose. They are a touch scared about the portals. I think this may be the place where we are probably going to do the most cross department work."

"Probably, as the portals now fall under science," Alanna said. "But I'll be happy to share what little information we have so far."

"That sounds great", Jason replied with a smile. "So what have you and your team found about them to date?"

"You should have the reports," Alanna said. "We're currently trying to map the caverns, but that's problematic at best. Some of the portals are static and go to the same place each time, but many are more fluid. After the Cardassian debacle, we've locked them down to all but essential personnel. We've stopped three attempts to sneak in so far."

Jason listened intently and took a note on a padd he slipped out of his pants pocket.

"I read reports about an attack on the planet side science lab the other night during the opening ceremonies", Jason said. "Are there any leads from the incident that you need followed up on?"

Alanna shook her head. "Not yet. I'm not sure if that was to get information on the portal complex, the planetary research, or if it was a distraction. Personally, I think they were after information in the computer, but I don't know what. Yet." She paused for a moment. "There are several groups on the station that run illegal operations. At least, that's the talk going around. Somehow they manage to keep from getting caught at it."

"Oh, really?" Jason said. "Have any faces been put to their leaders? My superiors have given me some individuals of interest, shall we say. I wonder if they are amongst those in these operations."

"Probably. I don't think I've met any of them, but there's a lot of talk about the Raddon Corporation. Nothing specific, but enough snippets here and there to give me pause." She smiled wryly. "This is all unofficial. As the Chief Geek, I tend to get overlooked a lot. Sometimes it helps." She generally didn't mind as she was often busy reading something at the time.

"Well, that is good to know", Jason said. "If I need some scuttlebutt, I will just come here."

"There's a great deal that goes on around here I know nothing about," she said. She was absolutely fine not knowing. Science and research gave her enough to worry about.

He chuckled a little bit and then continued, "I am going to need to go planet-side sometime here in the near future. A guide would make things a lot easier. Are you up to keeping me out of trouble down there?"

She gave him an impish grin. "I can't guarantee I'll keep either of us out of trouble, but I do need to go down to the planet and have a look at a pit of old bodies." She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Want to come along?"

Jason smiled and said, "It sounds fun, well a trip, not the dead bodies and all. It is getting late in the shift. Did you want to go now or in the morning?"

"That depends on you. I'm good either way," she said. "We'll need security, and maybe some Marines, but that won't take long to set up. We can go tonight, or I can show you around the station now and we can go first thing tomorrow."

"If you wouldn't mind, I would love to start out here on the station and then hit planet-side tomorrow", Jason said.

Alanna could tell that he was eager to take everything in, almost like a kid in a candy store.

She understood how he felt. She'd spent a lot of her free time walking around the station when she first arrived.

Alanna logged out of her computer and secured it. "Okay. When would you like to go?"

"Well, my schedule is quite free right now", Jason answered. "However, I interrupted your day, so I will let you chose today. After all, I've only been talking with people today not working like you."

"My schedule is fairly flexible because I work odd hours normally." She grinned. "I can go now. What would you like to see first?"

"Some place fun", Jason said. "I was stuck in a runabout for 3 weeks getting here and then of course meeting the CO, the XO, and a physical, not fun experiences."

"No. You definitely need to relax." She cocked a head and considered him for a moment. "What do you consider fun?"

A 'hmmm' escaped Jason and he said, "Well, most of the items I consider fun are a little more physical in nature, swimming, scuba diving, hiking, parrises squares. I do go dancing, but I'm not really in the mood, and I play a pretty good game of poker. So, how about a tour of the promenade, so I can get a better idea of what other forms of fun are here."

Alanna grinned, liking him even more. "There's a nice pool here, and the holodeck has some great hiking programs. I haven't gone scuba diving in a while, but there's probably a good program for that, too. But we can wander through the promenade and see what's there."

"So, have the waters of the planet been investigated?", Jason asked. "why scuba dive on the holo-deck when the real thing is near-by?"

She hadn't considered that. "I don't know. I've only been involved with the portal complex and the research facility. You know, I should find out."

Jason smiled with a nod and then asked, "So, how long have you been assigned here? What's the best part and the worst, from your perspective?"

She had to stop and consider that. "I've been here about a year. The best part is that there's so much going on I never have time to be bored. The down side is that what's going on can be absolutely chaotic and I don't have the time to do research. But each assignment is different and I have to take the bad with the good. What about you? What did you get out of your last assignment?"

Jason paused a moment, torn a bit about what to say. His last assignment was classified, but he didn't want to say that. He also didn't want to lie to her.

"I got a sore butt. I was analyst on a small Sabre class vessel, so there wasn't much to do", Jason said and then seemed to change the subject rather quickly. "So, what got you into Starfleet?"

She chuckled at the comment. "Okay, I won't ask." She finished closing up her office. "There's a lot of competition for field assignments in my area. I was assistant to some really good people, but I wanted to do more. Starfleet gave me the opportunity to explore." She walked to the door and waited for him to join her.

To Be Continued ...

[OFF]

Lt. (jg) Jason Haines
Chief Intelligence Officer
Deep Space 5

Lieutenant JG Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer
Deep Spance Five

 

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