The New Job, Part 1

Posted on Mon May 20, 2019 @ 6:43am by Commander Caleb Ryan & Civilian 'Key Holder' Dorian Gabriel

769 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Things Past
Location: USS Winchester
Timeline: 2376

Stuck together on a runabout for weeks traveling back to Cardassia, there was very little privacy. The beautiful Russian redheaded intelligence officer Natalya Ivanova stepped out of the sonic shower in nothing but a towel. She was already missing a real shower and couldn’t wait to get back to the Winchester.

Turning her back to Dorian, but otherwise apparently unconcerned for modesty, Natalya tossed the towel aside and started dressing in a fresh uniform. “We will reach the Winchester in about three hours,” she said over her naked shoulder. She’d remained in the comfort of civilian clothes for most of the trip, but now it was time to put Starfleet back on.

Once Natalya had finished fastening her uniform jacket, she turned to face Dorian, reaching up to tug her long red hair into a regulation ponytail as her green eyes settled on the new recruit. This mission would determine if he was suitable for Section 31 recruitment. “I have something for you,” Natalya said, reaching into her pack on her bunk and pulling out a small black box.

A few scenarios ran through his mind briefly as he slowly turned around. The trip so far had been uneventful, but he imagined that most missions of this type were filled with hours of boredom, but then moments of sheer terror. He appreciated something to take his mind off the monotony of the trip. Well, at least she's dressed now, he thought to himself as he faced the woman.

"I'm guessing it's not a thousand bars of gold pressed latinum?" he said sarcastically as he looked at the box.

“No.” Natalia held out the small box, revealing the set of pips for a lieutenant junior grade. “It’s a promotion, Lieutenant Gabriel.”

Dorian was caught off-guard. While he had grown increasingly frustrated with being passed over for promotion, he always assumed it was because of the incident that took place on board the USS Camelot and the decision he made to turn in his superior officer. He figured his being assigned to babysit Intel admirals was a quiet punishment.

But now he stood before an opportunity to redeem himself and get back to where he belonged: in the fleet and protecting the Federation.

"Thank you," he said as he took the hollowed pip and added it to his tunic. "I'm guessing there were certain individuals in Starfleet Security who weren't too happy to hear that I was no longer slaving away in the salt mines?" he asked.

Natalya stepped in close to Dorian to adjust his pips. She had put on a bit of perfume as well, and it filled the small space in the runabout around them. “There may have been,” she said, her breath warm and minty against his skin, “but we took care of them.” She didn’t clarify that ‘we’. “After all, no one would respect a mere ensign in what we’re asking you to do, Lieutenant.” Natalya stepped back, giving Dorian a smile. “They look good on you.”

The newly-minted Lieutenant Junior Grade agreed that they did look good on him. However, he was still concerned about the other part of her sentence. "You still have not explained to me what exactly our mission will be," he said.

“Captain Pierce will fill you in at mission briefing,” Natalya said. She nodded out the window to where Cardassia Prime was looming on the viewscreen. Several Federation, Klingon, and Romulan ships sat in orbit with the Cardassian Eighth Order.

Natalya slipped into the pilot seat again and steered the runabout toward the USS Winchester, a small Saber class ship stationed over the capital.

Dorian took a seat in the co-pilot chair as the vessel maneuvered towards the Saber-class vessel. Dorian was fairly aware of the recently commissioned vessels. He was curious to see just what purpose this vessel was being dispatched for.

"Saber-class? Subtle and low-profile," he said aloud. "I'm guessing where we're headed we'd like to avoid drawing attention to ourselves?" he said, still probing for information.

“That’s the idea,” Natalya said. “Right now Captain Pierce is dealing with the headache of occupation and reconstruction. But that’s not what we were doing during the war. Our missions often required discretion.”

Natalya expertly slipped the runabout into the Winchester’s shuttle bay. It dominated most of the space. “Home sweet home,” she said as she started the shutdown procedures. “Let’s go meet Captain Pierce.”

TBC

Lt. Natalya Ivanovna
Intelligence Officer/Section 31
USS Winchester

Lieutenant
Dorian Gabriel
Intelligence Officer/Undercover recruit

 

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