Uncertainty Abounds

Posted on Wed Feb 4, 2015 @ 1:46am by Captain Isha t'Vaurek & Lieutenant Mikaela Locke

953 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Eye of the Beholder
Location: CIO's Office / Station Commander's Ready Room
Timeline: MD 1: 1034 hours

[ON:]

Mikaela Locke had been sat in her office for about two and a half hours since the morning briefing she had attended. Her research in to Anaia Rex had not proved especially fruitful beyond what she'd already been told in the briefing and, for some reason, that unsettled her. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something about this whole operation seemed 'off'.

She sat at her desk, eyes closed, hands clasped together, the knuckles of her index fingers touching her pursed lips.

"What is it?" she whispered to herself.

She opened her eyes and sighed. Whatever it was seemed to be eluding her for the time being, but there was something else as well. Trellis. Something about the security officer's insistence that he should handle this operation alone also concerned her. Was it simply a case of an over-inflated sense of pride? Was it a need to prove himself to his superiors? Or was there something else going on?

Either way, Locke decided that she could no longer sit and stew about her concerns. The right thing to do was to inform the captain of her misgivings; even if they were just a gut feeling.

She sat back in her chair, took a swig of the now-cold coffee that was sat on her desk and then tapped her comm-badge.

"Locke to Captain t'Vaurek?"

"t'Vaurek," Isha said.

"Captain may I speak with you?"

Isha tapped a finger on the desk before checking her appointment diary, "I am available now to speak in person," she said.

This was puzzling, but not surprising.

---

A few moments later, Mikaela Locke emerged from the turbolift, crossed Ops and was pressing the chime outside the Captain t'Vaurek's office.

"Enter, Lieutenant," she said.

Isha remained in the seating area in her office, a pot of tea and two glasses on the low table - one was full of steaming liquid, the other empty. "Do join me," she said, "and take tea if you wish."

"Thank you," Mikaela replied, moving over to the seating area and glancing down at the tea, not knowing whether to help herself or to wait for the captain to pour. Deciding that it seemed to be polite to wait for her host, she sat, slightly forward in her chair, her back straight.

"Captain," she began, not waiting for the invitation to explain why she was there, "Something about this situation with Anaia Rex is concerning me."

Many things about it were concerning Isha. She suspected that if she had not approved their 'mission' they'd have gone ahead in a less controlled manner. "Please share your concerns, Lieutenant," Isha said.

Mikaela considered beating around the bush - wrapping the truth up in a linguistic disguise that would have the captain struggling to unpick what she was really saying - but ultimately she decided that the right approach was to simply come out with it.

"Trellis," she eventually said, flatly.

"I know we didn't get off a great footing," Locke continued, "But this isn't personal, I promise. Something about his approach to this mission is bothering me." She sat back further in her chair as she tried to articulate the nagging feeling in her gut.

"He was so quick to volunteer to be the undercover operative," she continued, "when everyone in the room knew that a field intel. agent would be far better suited to the task - there are two or three that work out of DS 5 on a regular basis."

She sighed and threw her hand up in minor exasperation. "Either he's just desperate to prove himself - like he's compensating for something, or..." She trailed off.

"Or this mission is somehow personal for him," she concluded eventually. "And, given who else is involved..." she paused again, contemplating the repercussions of what she had just said, "That could put everyone on the station in far more danger than they already are."

"I thank you for speaking freely to me. I hope you always feel you can," Isha replied, "I gave permission with the thought that the operation would happen anyway. I asked for the involvement of security directly, but I fear that will be subverted.

"I fear many of your fears, Lieutenant." Isha sat back slightly as she chewed her thoughts. "I want you to have a team ready to track the target once aboard. I will provide, where needed the feedback I have had from Trelis' operation, and I expect to have full disclosure. It won't be an easy time," Isha added.

Mikaela felt a small degree of relief swell up from inside her. If nothing else, she had been heard. Of course, Starfleet captains were the ultimate diplomats and t'Vaurek may well have just been humouring her, but she gut told her otherwise. The captain was genuinely concerned about this mission and the potential consequences should it go wrong.

"I'll need to call for some extra personnel," she responded, "but it's not a problem."

Isha nodded. How very Romulan of her to be already at the centre of a scheme -two of her officers at odds with one another and she ostensibly on the side of each.

"If there is anything further you require be sure to let me know," Isha told her.

Mikaela nodded, stood and smartly left the room, leaving the tea, unpoured on the table.

[OFF:]

---

Mikaela Locke
Chief Intelligence Officer
Deep Space Five

&


Isha t'Vaurek
Commanding Officer
Deep Space Five

 

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