Courtesy Call
Posted on Sun Dec 13, 2015 @ 6:17pm by Captain Isha t'Vaurek & Commander Caden Aldrex
2,891 words; about a 14 minute read
Mission:
Pangaea (Wrap up)
Location: Isha's Quarters
[ON]
Cade Aldrex walked down the corridor to Isha t'Vaurek's quarters, contemplating what he was going to say. He hadn't seen her since that day on the Promenade. Since then he had purposefully kept his distance so that Ryan and Counselor Bennett could do their duty and collect what data was necessary for the investigation file. He had wanted to avoid any appearance of influencing the proceedings in any way.
Now that business was complete and the file had been transmitted to JAG, who would shortly decide whether or not to formally press charges. As for the station crew they would try to return to some semblance of regular duty. Aldrex was still in operational command (ooc: I think?) but had decided to pay a courtesy visit to the Captain and give her a report on things.
Not having seen or talked to her for several days, however, made it seem awkward. She had lost a child. Would she think him cold and indifferent for not acknowledging that before? Did it matter anyway? Eviess wasn't dead she was just...gone.
He thought of his second host, Tadja, whose five-year-old son drowned in a river while she had her back turned only for a moment. She never forgave herself for it. And all these lifetimes later it still haunted Aldrex. That one minute of inattention. He never spoke of it to anyone, not even Amia. Maybe bringing it up with Isha would let her know that he understood?
Or maybe not. It seemed inappropriate somehow. Romulans didn't wear their feelings out in the open. At least none that he had ever met. Coming to a stop in front of her door he breathed in deeply and pressed the chime.
What now? Isha thought. Ekenda, the twin's nurse had charge of Argellian and their section of the quarters had been cut off from the main ones - they could come and go at will, and at prescribed times, Argelian could see his mother. Nobody called at the main door unless they possessed the security code.
The neat, if slightly unorthodox uniform Isha had adopted when she'd returned to DS5 was gone. She'd reverted to the flor lenght deep sleeved robes she had favoured as an ambassador here in years gone by.
She was beyond caring what they thought about her.
Slowly she rose to her feet and smoothed the skirt over her hips.
"Enter," she said.
The doors parted to reveal the First Officer. He gave her a respectful nod and said, "Captain. I hope you don't mind my dropping by. I thought I'd see how you're doing and give you an update on the station. If you're feeling up to it."
Isha exhaled slowly, although it would be assumed she was dissembling she really had lost track of what had happened. Her memories were from a different time, but she didn't expect to be believed.
"As long as your intention is not to accuse me, or to psychoanalyse me, then you are welcome," she said lifting her arm in a gesture of invitation.
"Not at all," Cade replied, stepping inside. "In fact I'll offer my sympathies. For your loss, and also for this difficult time that you're enduring. I regret having done what I needed to do."
She smiled. It was a thin expression, lacking warmth and heart. "I know my daughter is alive, and I take comfort in that," she said, "and one should never regret doing what is necessary. Do help yourself to refreshments, Commander."
In truth the XO didn't want anything but thought it might appear rude to refuse. He went to the replicator. "Raktajino, hot." The machine whirred as the steaming mug materialized. "Yes, she's alive, Captain. And we're doing everything we can to find her. Pangaea seems like an excellent place to start. Once the away teams report back their initial findings I was considering special search parties. Apparently there's a huge network of underground caverns down there." He gestured to the replicator. "Can I get you anything?"
Isha had retaken her seat. Eviess was not comingback, she knew that, but she could hope, "Nothing for me, Commander. Caverns you say? I wonder that there is anything intact after being trapped between dimensions for who knows how long."
"The probes we sent found evidence of, for lack of a better word, man-made structures, both above ground and in those caverns. Plenty of places for someone to hide out." Inwardly Aldrex also knew that Eviess was not, in all likelihood, coming back. But he found it distasteful to simply give up on the girl. If there was any evidence, however remote, that Rusalka was down there then he wanted her found. What he would do if he found her was the next big question. One thing at a time.
"If we find anything of note we'll let you know, Captain," he said. Then setting that aside he moved on to other matters. "We're making preparations to receive the new Romulan ambassador. I spoke to him on subspace. His name is Maekhav D'Aerrol."
Isha's shoulders curved slightly before she returned to her upright position, "This is how much the senate trusts me," she told Aldrex, "We had an agreement that there would be no Ambassador in this station during my tenure. The fact that they have chosen to send this one is surely proof that they doubt me. What a terrible shame he will not find me in charge - any reminders of my loyalties will be redundant," a smile spread across her face, "You must allow him to visit me. Perhaps Taahk can escort him, I do want to see his face when he realises that he has no leverage here."
Aldrex raised an eyebrow. "I fully support anything we can do to annoy him," he deadpanned. "I found him to be a spectacularly unpleasant man. He's going to be a real joy to have around." Then, drawing a deep breath he confessed, "when I spoke to him I didn't mention that you had been relieved. Although it's possible they've found out already."
"He might not have known when you spoke to him, but he will soon enough. The current senate, or rather the faction whose interests he represents is equally unpleasant. There is not one of that group I would associate myself with," she said, "What is your plan, Commander?"
Aldrex breathed in, then asked, "Permission to speak freely, Captain?"
"Of course," Isha replied.
"I'm torn between loyalties. I can already sense that we'll be at odds with the Romulans over Pangaea. On top of that Starfleet Command has made it a point to call me and give me stern instructions of their own. Perhaps I just want to get a sense of how things will be between you and I when you return to duty."
Isha noted he used the term when rather than if. "The same as they were before," Isha replied, "nothing has changed. As I see it you have done and will do what you believe to be your duty."
Aldrex grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, thanks for the vote of confidence. I guess what I'm getting at is, what happens when my sense of duty to the Federation conflicts with your sense of duty to the Empire? Or...is that not something you're terribly concerned about?" He remembered her words from only moments before. There is not one of that group I would associate myself with.
Isha's smile was thin and her eyes had a glint of suspicion, however, "That is a very pertinent question, Commander. Though the Federation and Starfleet requested my participation in the Officer Exchange Programme, the majority of the Senate were against. However, for the program not to fail they had to concede to me coming back from retirement. Neither side fully trusts my motives, which is why I have Taahk shadowing me."
"Ah, Mister Taahk," Aldrex said, crossing one leg over the other. "Starfleet told me he was an 'informal advisor' to you and to 'not worry about him.' Now it's a lot more clear." He studied the steaming beverage in his hand and asked, "What do you think the Senate's game is now? Sending this D'Aerrol fellow?"
"If we had not suddenly found ourselves in possession of a solar system I think the Senate would have held back their hand. As it is, they have played it too soon. Sending D'Aerrol only further confirms that my plan is the correct one."
Aldrex glanced up with an arched eyebrow. "Plan?"
"Are you familiar with the Re-Unification Movement, Commander?"
"I'm familiar with it," he replied carefully, knowing it was a touchy subject with some Romulans. "Why do you ask?"
Was it too early to bering up this topic? Could she trust him? It would be known sooner or later in any case. It took Isha a moment to find her words, "For almost fifty years now I have been involved in that movement, for the last twenty I have been a central, if sleeping figure. Some suspect my intentions, some support them. Others oppose them."
"Oh," he replied, and immediately felt dumb for not having something more insightful to offer. His back straightened. "Well..."
The silence hung thick in the room for a moment before Cade added, "Captain, isn't that dangerous?" He wondered why she would even tell him that. Then the weight of what she had just admitted struck him, and he felt as though he had just been given something very valuable. Of course it's dangerous, you doorknob. "I mean, how many people know?"
A soft chuckle rose in Isha's throat, "In this place, Taahk and now yourself. A handful of trusted people on my colony. Only I, A Starfleet Admiral and a United Federation of Planets Official, both of whom shall remain nameless are aware of what we plan. I will spare you the details, just know that the probabilty is that D'Aerrol's interests are opposed to my own, and understand the reason why. It will be far from obvious to others."
Both of Cade's eyebrows shot up in surprise. A Starleet Admiral and a UFP Official? "The higher-ups know? Captain, what exactly are you planning?" He didn't want to ask details any more than Isha wanted to share, but he was beginning to feel neck-deep in all this. If she was planning to use DS5 as a staging base for something big, like an armed revolution, then it was an alarming feeling to be in the dark about it. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.
"All in good time, Comander," Isha said, "I think you'll agree it will serve everyone's purpose if he believes the reason I have been relieved of duty is more because I have expressed opinions that would favour the Empire and that I cannot be trusted to handling things in the way Starfleet would like. I believe that he will believe that because the conclusion is most likely to match his prejudices. I cannot say for sure, however."
Cade couldn't help but nod to that. "I had assumed that D'Aerrol and the Empire would see your removal as evidence that we were trying to keep you from your command while we explored Pangaea. But, yes, there's no way to know for sure." He looked down again at his raktajino, then set it on the end table next to him. "Captain, if your sympathies should be found out, what's your plan? To ask for asylum here?"
Isha was drawn to a memory from over twenty years ago when she had been part of an official delegation to Vulcan. Every one of her fellow delegates had been assassinated - she alone had been extracted by an agent acting against orders (http://ds5.co.uk/sms/index.php?page=post&id=1459).
Even then her sympathies had been suspected, but the events and her reaction afterwards had served to restablish her credentials as loyal to the government and staunchly in the 'anti' camp.
Asylum? "No, not asylum, the Vulcan and Rihannsu people will never be one again, but we are working on something almost as good."
Aldrex lowered his chin. "Which is?"
"Are all Trill this inquisitive?" Isha asked, "Once you're in on the secret you can't back out."
"I get the feeling I've been unknowingly immersed in this business all along. Besides, my last host Jori had a saying. 'If you're going to grab a Thraxian night dragon by the tail you might as well grab the whole thing.' So what are you working on?"
"I have an independent, self-sufficient colony, located beyond Romulan territory. Co-incidentally it has become a haven for those sympathetic to the movement. It seems that the Council, again, independent from myself, voted to petition the Federation for membership at exactly the same moment I was appointed to command this station. How peculiar is that?" her tone implied that none of it was coincidence. "Cynics might suggest that the events are linked."
Cade Aldrex leaned forward, elbows on his knees and fingers interlaced. "What is the status of that petition now?" It couldn't have been long ago. "And what has been the Empire's reaction to it?"
Isha smiled thinly, whether he knew it or not she was binding him into her camp, to take her side, in both this and the 'murder' investigation, for the success of one, rested on the result of the other. "Commander, I officially retired from public life over four years ago, that is when the petition was made, when I retired to my backwater colony. That is why, when the exchange program was invisaged Starfleet, despite the protestations of the Senate insisted that I was the pioneering officer. They want to observe me first hand to establish finally whether or not that petition is sincere. The paperwork is done. All it requires is - I believe the term on Earth is a rubber stamp - then the official work will begin. The Empire is not officially aware, but I doubt it remains entirely secret."
That prompted a snort from the Trill. "Romulans are crafty and smart if nothing else." Exhibit A sitting right in front of me. "You can bet somebody over there has a clue.”
"Is that so?" Isha replied with a raised eyebrow. "Of course they'll have already taken the opportunity to plant spies in the system, and what better way to rid the Empire of most of its dissidents than to allow them to move to a planet of little strategic significance which is due to cede? Plus those spies will gain information that otherwise would come at a greater cost. The Senate will make some loud noises, but it is a win-win situation," Isha explained addressing his statement.
Then switching gears he asked, "So why pick me as your first officer then? Why not Taahk?"
She moved on to the question. "Taahk is a member of the movement from the Vulcan side, we conduct a mind-meld each evening. If I had nefarious motives, I'll leave it up to you to decide, I could have undue influence during those sessions. I think you'll agree that a first officer who cannot be held wholly autonomous would not be appropriate."
“So I get to be the unwilling patsy, eh? Standing by while your plans come to glorious fruition? The principal leaders of a major dissident movement all in one place? Forgive me if I don’t think that’s a brilliant idea. You can't seriously believe they'll just let that go.” His tone was sour.
"We're all playing the long game. When we cede and their spies are in place I expect an attempt on my life, they'll not act before as the opportunity to infiltrate will be lost," perhaps it was impossible for one who had not been raised to negotiate the shards and daggers of Romulan politics to understand. "You seem a little peturbed."
"Maybe just a little," Aldrex said. Granted he was not a lifelong expert at Romulan politics like Isha, but he had lived enough lifetimes to know how cruel politics and war could be, having dabbled in both. "I'm sure you know what you're doing, but I can't help but think of the unknowns and the what-ifs." He looked her in the eye. "And the traps that you may not see, as well as the ones that you can."
"I'll take my chances," Isha replied, "if I spent all my time looking for traps I'd never have time to do anything else. What a waste of life that would be!"
"Believe me, wasting your life is something I'd like to avoid very much." He retrieved his mug and took a sip. Then added, "I'll try to follow your lead as best I can, Captain."
If the truth were known Isha was tired. Her retirement had been genuine and had she not been forced to come here, she personally would have played no further public role in any context. But the Elements decided that was not to be.
"I trust you to do what you must, Commander. That will be enough."
Captain Isha t'Vaurek
Comanding Officer
Lt. Cmdr. Cade Aldrex
XO
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