Uninvited Guests (Part II of II)
Posted on Fri Feb 5, 2021 @ 6:08am by Captain Maritza Soran & Commander Caleb Ryan & Lieutenant T'Lul & Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis
2,473 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Si vis pacem, para bellum
Location: Conference Room 1
Timeline: MD 01 1100
Previously in
Darag Rell waited until he was alone with his daughter. "I see that your attitude has not improved. It is a wonder that Starfleet trusts you to any diplomatic relations."
"I do just fine with races that don't support minority rule," Maritza said sweetly. "You realise that this is a waste of time. If Hex was here, then it's left after you sent your goose steppers in three weeks ago."
"You say it is a waste of time, but if that were so, then you would have already had the problem handled. You always were headstrong and wrongheaded. But, as usual, I will have to clean up your messes."
"My mess? You didn't give me a chance to even look. The first I knew you were looking for Hex was when you told me your agents were arriving. Your people went at this gung ho. Yours! Mine have been cleaning your mess ever since!"
And now the conclusion
"If you ever paid attention to what was going on in the universe other than your personal life, then you would have known about Hex and the rogue symbiont. That attitude forces me to try and make matters easier for you by working without your knowledge." He tugged his shirt firmly downwards to emphasize the point. "I have no desire to feed further into your delusions, so the sooner that we can wrap this unfortunate incident up, the better."
"My delusions?" Maritza's eyebrows raised. "I'm not the one swanning about thinking I'm omniscient."
"Hardly, Maritza. I'm merely prepared for as many contingencies as possible."
"Well, good for you. I hope one of them included not getting the chance to sit down, because as soon as we've got this briefing down, you're being escorted off this station and out of my airspace."
With that, she turned on her heel and marched towards the turbo lift.
As the doors closed, Lt. Trellis could see the two combatants staring at each other intently. He could only imagine just how long their dispute had been simmering, waiting to explode.
Inside the turbo lift, Tonza Soran sighed. "Oh dear." She could see the tense body language and the gradually rising voices. "So, Lieutenant," she said to Trellis with brittle brightness, "have you heard from your father recently?"
Lt. Trellis grit his teeth almost automatically before he realized what he was doing. The idea of the Chairman's wife being here was bad enough, but now she compounded the problem by knowing his father.
Si'Lar did not enjoy a healthy relationship with his father ever since he was rejected from becoming Joined by the Symbiosis Commission. A nearly life-long goal that Si'Lar had worked so hard to accomplish was snatched away from him with a simple three line message on a padd.
"Thank you for your dedication and interest.
The Committee has undergone a thorough review of your record, qualifications, and the review of your field docent.
Unfortunately, we do not believe you would be a sufficient host to be Joined."
Just the thought made Si'Lar want to retreat to his quarters where he could enjoy a bottle of Sarkuvian ale.
Besides, why would I need to speak to my father when he's already sent his best spy here to do his dirty work?*** he thought to himself as he chose his words carefully.
"No, ma'am, I've, uh, I've been quite busy with my duties onboard," he replied rather quickly, hoping that would be the end of the conversation.
"Ah, is that code to say my daughter is running you ragged?"
"I...uh....I suppose you could say that, ma'am." Lt. Trellis said as the lift came to its designated floor and he escorted her towards her quarters.
_______________
They managed to get to the conference room without murdering each other. The tension that hung between them made for an uncomfortable ride. And there was frosty silence until Commander Ryan and Trellis arrived.
"So," she said crisply to her father. "What is your cunning plan for finding Hex when people who know this station far better than you ever will haven’t had any luck?"
“Can Ah get anyone anything from the replicator?” Caleb asked, trying to be a bit more diplomatic.
"You think that knowing the station is everything?" Darag Rell responded to his daughter. He then looked at Caleb and said, "Some fresh klah would be nice. I know the Captain here prefers it a week old." He smiled at Maritza pleasantly, despite calling her an idiot with his idiom.
“Yes, sir.” Caleb gave Maritza a bit of a sympathetic look as he passed by to the replicator to order the klah.
Soran briefly entertained thoughts of shoving her own father out of the nearest airlock and then dismissed it. "I hear a lot of boasting and very few details." She crossed her arms and glared at her father.
"As I recall, Maritza, sorry, Captain, you did not want involvement. Are you now saying that you do?" Rell asked.
"I have to hear you out," Maritza folded her arms across her chest "That's where my orders stop. So the sooner you start talking, the sooner you can go back home."
"Ah, well, then perhaps I should remain silent?" He grinned at his daughter, then turned to Caleb, "Your wife was a joined Trill, was she not?"
Lt. Trellis’ fists tightened anxiously as the Chairman asked the pointed question to the Executive Officer. The security officer wanted to jump out of his own skin and shout the answer to the question, the true answer about how a half-breed came to be in possession of the Naqiis symbiont.
But he didn't. Instead, he tried to regain his composure.
The Trill watched as Trellis tightened his fists. "See, Commander," Darag Rell drew out. "Were it up to my daughter here, she would have all joined Trill declared a menace to society and have, as she would call them, the slugs thrown back in the dirt and muck where she believes that they belong. Do you feel the same way?"
Why are you even asking him? He's a Human, he doesn't understand our culture, Si'Lar thought to himself privately. It was bad enough that Captain Soran held such a dismissive few of their people. But to seek input from a Human, a Human whose daughter was an accomplice to a crime, just seemed to be an exercise in futility.
“Mah wife was a joined Trill, yes, sir,” Caleb answered, offering a tight smile as he handed the Chairman his drink, putting one down on the table for Soran, as well. “Mika Naquis. As for the symbiotes, sir, Ah’m certainly not for genocide. Yer daughter an’ Ah ain’t really discussed Trill politics overly much. Ah’m afraid Ah’m a bit out of the loop on that since mah Mika passed.”
Maritza narrowed her eyes at her father's apparently innocent question. That was a subject they shouldn't be probing. "Hex," she said sharply. "That's why you're here. There will be no finding it if we're all up here getting sidetracked. Lieutenant Trellis, could you bring the chairman up to speed on where things are after the death of his agent?"
"Naquis…” Rell let the name trail for a while. "I believe we had some dealings in a past incarnation. It is a shame that it appears that there will be no further dealings," he told the XO. "Nonetheless, I am very sorry for your loss. I hope that it has not put undue strain on your family."
He then turned over to the captain, smiling. "Yes, Captain, please have your Lieutenant bring me up to date. I should like to hear about your efforts."
Fuuuck! Lt. Trellis screamed silently.
Lt. Trellis' eyeballs widened briefly as Commissioner Rell mentioned that he had encountered the Naqiis symbiont in the past. If that was true, then that meant the half-breed knew Commissioner Rell, and by association Hex would know certain information about the commissioner.
"Sir," The Security Officer began. "Wh-what contact did you have with the NaqIis symbiont? I believe that could be beneficial to the ongoing investigation," he said slowly.
"I think you were given an order, Lieutenant Trellis," Rell reminded Trellis, pleased that his comment hit home. "I am waiting for your report."
Caleb scowled at Trellis. “Yes, Lieutenant. Mah deceased wife is not at all relevant here,” he said sharply. “The Commissioner is here about Hex.”
Lt. Trellis returned Commander Ryan’s scowl. He would love to give a full report of what had transpired on the station and how the Executive Officer’s own daughter was involved with the psychopath now running freely around the station. However, Lt. Trellis knew that revealing that fact to the Commissioner of the Symbiosis Commission would set off a firestorm throughout Trill and the upper levels of the Federation.
More importantly, it wouldn’t change the fact that he still didn’t know where either symbiont was at the moment. Additionally, there was no telling what his sister’s involvement was or what she planned on doing to locate Hex and Commander Ryan’s half-breed.
He knew that he’d have to omit certain information from his report.
“Sir, we have deployed considerable Security Department assets to finding and capturing Hex. We have several leads on what he used as his base of operations. By continuing to add pressure, it will prevent him from being able to forcibly change hosts and evade capture,” Lt. Trellis stated.
Rell, not pleased with this start, looked at his daughter and asked, "Captain, do you always have your officers report in such generalities? I would have thought you would have expected highly detailed reports. I know that is how we have always done things in the Commission."
“Ah doubt it would try an’ change hosts again,” Caleb said. “It’s new body is fresh an’ new. Transferin’ is an involved surgical procedure requirin’ extensive recuperative time. Time he probably knows he doesn’t have. We’ve put out BOLOs for the face he’s wearin’ an’ are watching the docking areas closely, as well as runnin’ facial recognition algorithms through all the security sensors.”
Lt. Trellis knew that he was going to kick himself later for saying this, but...
"Commissioner Rell, your presence on the station has complicated the situation," he said as he took a deep breath and continued, "Hex is clearly a sophisticated criminal if he was able to identify an agent for the Commission so easily. More importantly, he knows that if the Commission was willing to send an agent to this station to find him, then they are not likely to just give up," the Trill security officer stated. "You and your wife are high-value targets for a criminal like Hex."
"And that is why we should be screening all Trill, or even better, scan this station for all symbiont lifeforms. It will narrow the search," Rell replied logically.
"You are not violating the privacy of my citizens for one slug," Maritza reiterated. "If that's the best you've got, you can leave."
"Honestly, Captain, you make things much more difficult. And indeed, unless someone is doing something illegal, that symbiont would have nothing to worry about. The scan would reveal nothing of what the Trill are doing, only their locations. I do not see how that is unreasonable."
He was not listening. "Sir, I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation we have here. Hex targeted a highly trained member of Trill law enforcement and killed her without any hesitation. You and your wife being on the station only presents a more attractive target to Hex," Lt. Trellis said with obvious concern. "Sir, if you are to stay on the station, I would suggest you remain in a secured location where my department can guarantee your safety from Hex and whatever plan he is attempting to carry out."
"With all due respect, Lieutenant Trellis, that is why it is so important to run a scan of the station. The sooner I find Hex and the rogue symbiont, the sooner that we can all be done with this distasteful meeting." Rell stared hard at his daughter. "Perhaps now you see my point, Captain?"
Caleb considered. “A general census scan wouldn’t be violatin’ any rights,” he allowed. “It also wouldn’t give much information beyond numbers and location. It certainly wouldn’t identify anyone. But if there was a symbiote in a restricted area or off-limits, we would be in our rights ta investigate,” he told Maitza.
She didn't want to do it. She certainly didn't want Hex found by her father. "Alright," she said at last. "But we're only sharing signs in restricted areas, and only once my people have gone in and got them."
Rell slightly lowered himself and spread his arms out wide. "If that is what your wisdom tells you that you should do."
Lt. Trellis ground his teeth and decided not to add any further discussion to the matter. It was clear that his superiors had already made a determination about how this affair would be handled.
She gave her father a poisonous smile. "Lieutenant Trellis? You're closest to this. I trust your wisdom as much as my own."
Rell gave his daughter a cold look. "Can we get on with it?" His words dripped icily.
"Very well," Lt. Trellis said begrudgingly. "We can have Science and Medical perform the scan since we would need to adjust sensors to account for Trill physiology," he said as he slowly stood. "If you'd like, we can go now.”.
"I would," Rell replied, his patience starting to wear a bit more thin.
“We’ll leave ya to it, then,” Caleb said, allowing them to head down to Medical.
"After you, sir" Lt. Trellis said as the doors to the turbolift slid open.
Rell silently stalked his way to the turbolift, daring a last glance at his daughter.
Caleb glanced over at Captain Soran. “Ya’ll okay, sir?” he asked quietly once they had left. “Ya didn’t say the Commissioner was yer father.”
"Surprised?" she asked him, glaring at the retreating back of the man, as Trellis led him to Sickbay.
“Rather,” Caleb admitted. “It’s gonna make this all exponentially more difficult, isn’t it?”
Maritza snorted. "You have no idea."
[OFF]
Darag Rell (as portrayed by Amanda Rose)
Known Troublemaker
Chairman of the Symbiosis Commission
Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis
Covert Security Investigations
Commander Caleb Ryan
Executive Officer
Captain Maritza Soran
Captain
DS5
** - https://ds5.sim-metry.net/index.php/sim/viewpost/1630
*** - https://ds5.sim-metry.net/index.php/sim/viewpost/1606
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