A Hunting we will go

Posted on 21 Mar 2017 @ 6:29pm by Lieutenant JG Stephanie Fraiser (KIA) & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm

2,170 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 14 - Statecraft
Location: IKS DuJa'Q - CO's Office
Timeline: MD 04 - 1143 hrs

[ON]

Stephanie stood outside the CO's Office nervously given how vociferous she had been against the endeavour they were on she worried that the General would be angry at her but she wasnt here to complain. In fact she was here to offer her services to her as someone who was used to coming up with creative solutions to problems before they were problems and she knew that they had at least one big problem coming.

While she hadnt broken any rules of Starfleet she had felt the overwhelming emotions coming from the woman who had sent them on this mission and her determination to set in place something that wasnt going to be good for the crew. Stephanie didnt know what that was but right now she had the time and the excuse to try and work out what it might be.

Girding her loins so to speak she pulled on her courage and knocked on the door waiting for permission to enter.

The rapping at the door was a most unusual sound. Lirha's ears perked up and she diverted her attention from the PADD in her lap to the source of the echoing sound. "..Hello?" she slowly answered, rising from her seat at the desk to look towards the door and ceiling.

Stephanie peeked round the door "Permission to come in please ma'am?"

Lirha saw a head covered in dark-brown hair peer through the door somehow. She hadn't remembered leaving it open, but that was unimportant now that her visitor had arrived. Upon further inspection, a quick glance at the rank pips revealed it to be a junior lieutenant who was apparently here to see her. "Yes. Enter," she answered.

"Thank you ma'am. " Walking up to the desk Stephanie stood at attention "Lt (jg) Stephanie Fraiser reporting belatedly for duty ma'am. I was slated to be a research scientist for you on the Galileo."

"At ease," Lirha replied, taking in the slightly-shorter woman. "Yes, I have reviewed your personnel log and the circumstance behind your arrival at Kreanus. I thank you for volunteering to assist my crew even though you have not been formally assigned yet." Medara's intelligence operatives had been quite thorough with all of the DuJa'Q's crew members, even going so far as to acquire classified Federation, Romulan, Reman, and Klingon personnel records.

"You are welcome maam. I, uh, you probably know I am Betazoid? I stay well within Starfleet guidelines on use of my abilities ma'am bur at the meeting the other day? Something felt off ma'am. Like, we'very stepped into a trap on this ship. I'm not meaning the Klingonsthey just want to go home. It felt like someone was pretty upset with the fact we didn't jump to help them."

"A trap?" Lirha asked, her eyebrows raising. She hadn't detected anything of the sort. While she was an Orion and not a telepath, her species' natural propensity to socialize as well as her own previous experiences as a trader on her family's trade vessel made her well-versed in reading individuals. "I have not sensed any sort of ruse. And the Klingons aboard our vessel do not wish to return to Qo'noS...they simply wish for the bounties placed on them by the High Council to be rescinded. They desire freedom. Kreanus' freedom," she explained.

Stephanie nodded "it's not the crew or most of the people on Kreanus. It's no one here now on this ship but someone who was high enough up to be at the meeting ma'am and trap might be the wrong word." She tried to explain the feelings she had got a flash of "It was like a sense of intense betrayal and then this ... I'm not sure what the description would be but almost 'gotcha' is the only way I can describe it ma'am. Those people on Kreanus? I might not agree with how they kidnapped and sandbagged us but they deserve freedom as much as anyone does." She wasn't sure if she was making sense.

"Someone at a meeting? With the crew of Galileo?" Lirha asked. In no uncertain terms, the junior lieutenant seemed to be referencing a specific person. One who Lirha or any of the other former-Galileo crew members could probably deduce with limited skill. "Speak freely, Miss Fraiser," she encouraged.

"One of the women running the colony. I'm not sure of her name sorry. I noticed her standing in the back because I was looking for my daughter who got bored and crawled off. She was furious and looked almost betrayed that we didn't immediately jump up and down with joy helping them. Then she got a look on her face that was calculating ma'am like she had a plan B in place that she had decided to trigger."

Like all things in life, Lirha tended to stray away from extremes and their associated descriptions such as "furious" and "betrayed." Things were usually much more complex especially where emotions were involved. But from what Fraiser had just told her, it most likely was either S'anara or Medara. Both were Romulan colony administrators, albeit one with higher seniority over the other.

"I might know this person you speak of," began Lirha who then tilted her head curiously. "Did this surprise you? And make you apprehensive?"

Stephanie nodded "Like feeling an anvil was going to drop on my head. I was on edge from the time she came into the meeting and it only got worse. I have apologised to the XO because I was rather blunt and rude to him about the mission. I'm not normally like that ma'am and looking back it could have been her emotions and the tension exacerbated it but I would like to apologise to you too."

Lirha frowned and tilted her head, not quite understanding the sentiment behind the woman's apology. "For what?" she asked. This was the first time she'd ever met Fraiser in-person and nothing she'd been privy to had warranted amends.

"For being unprofessional in front of your crew ma'am."

"That is hardly something to apologize for," the Orion replied. A casual wave of her green hand attempted to dismiss and bury the notion in favor or more pertinent issues. "If Commander Ban or myself ever feels you have acted inappropriately, we will inform you. For now, your presence is welcome."

Nodding Steph relaxed at that. "I can't give you an exact of what the woman was thinking ma'am but her body language and emotional output pointed to her acting as my mother would say 'squirrelly' like when they are hiding nuts and don't want anyone to follow them?"

"Yes, most likely," agreed Lirha. "Commander Medara is a former member of the Romulan Tal Shiar; it would make sense that she hides secrets, and that her level of trust for this crew of 'outsiders' is somewhat...lacking."

Nodding Stephanie thought about Tal Shiar tactics "I am assuming that she made some 'promises' in her meeting with the command staff about what will happen of we deviate from the norm?"

Lirha shook her head. "Not promises. Assurances, which she is very capable of fulfilling," she answered. Lirha had spent several years of her Starfleet career as an Intelligence officer monitoring Romulan fleet and political activities across the Neutral Zone. What the Tal Shiar lacked in force projection, they were able to make up for in manipulation with the use of advanced technology. "It is not wise to underestimate a person such as Medara," Saalm cautioned.

"Believe me ma'am I'm likely to over rather than under. She honestly felt anger and disgust for us. I don't think she plans on us surviving this even if we do survive it."

Lirha regarded the young junior officer in front of her. She seemed very confident of her ability to discern the emotional readouts of those around her, but such she'd encountered enough Betazoids in her lifetime to know that such readings weren't entirely accurate. Especially when they conflicted with her own views of a person.

"Medara is a ...complicated woman," the Orion began. "She does not appear to be prone to hate, or love, or any of the polar extremes. I believe her feelings to be much more nuanced."

Stephanie looked curious always willing to learn from senior officers about any subject. "It is possible that the emotion didnt come from her maam or that she was deliberately trying to put us wrong."

"She was trained by the Tal Shiar," Lirha concurred. "It is very possible she has control of her internal feelings as well as their external portrayals. Romulans share much of the Vulcan discipline and can call upon it very rapidly if the need arises."

The Orion general then sighed and waved a hand somewhat dismissively. "I do not want you to worry about her. Our objective is the mission at hand, here aboard this vessel, and only that. If our officers and NCOs become distracted with theory-crafting and rumors, it could undermine all of us and jeopardize the mission."

"Yes maam. " She nodded understanding "Would it help if I looked into finding a way around the blocks in the system?

"A way around the blocks?" Lirha curiously asked. She wasn't quite sure what the young scientist was referring to.

Stephanie gave a wide eyed look. "Um ... I was looking through some of the systems and found a series of unusual blocks and things that dont make sense being there ma'am."

"Such as?" Without any specifics, the uncertainty remained. No doubt many of them were probably attributed to the woman's lack of experience operating aboard Klingon vessels.

"There is one that interferes with our ability to send out messages to practically anyone for a start maam. not even sure we can respond to Klingon command right now. I started looking because in the main meeting Commander Allyndra mentioned it maam and I wondered what else they may have fiddled with."

"Ah yes." Lirha slowly nodded in recognition of what Fraiser was letting on to. "All long-range and short-range communications have been disabled. Only those with the proper authorization codes such as myself and Commander Ban can send transmissions," she explained with a casual gesture of her gloved hand. "It is nothing to be alarmed about."

She bit her lip, how do you tell the CO that thats not all that was done without sounding like one of those 21 century conspiracy nuts?

"Was there anything else you wanted to speak to me about?" Lirha took the woman's silence to indicate the end of the query. Tensions were certainly high and it helped if the crew members were afforded a chance to inquire about their situation.

Stephanie admitted "I feel a bit like a third wheel on a date ma'am. I have no idea where or how to help right now."

Saalm gave the young lieutenant a small smile and shook her head to dismiss the notion of being a burden. "You're not a 'third wheel'," she replied, letting the strange Earthling slang roll off her tongue. "We are all grateful for your presence. It takes a strong will to volunteer for a mission like this...and that shows character," she complimented.

There were more than a few ways Lirha could think of that the science officer could be of use. Perhaps most pertinent to their current mission was data collection and interpretation. "This vessel has been with the Kreanus fleet for some time now. Possibly close to twenty years," she started to explain. "She's been many places both in the Klingon Empire and in the Paulson Nebula. The ship's navigational and cartography logs would be very valuable to us if you can find them. Especially those of the nebula... Starfleet has only been able to chart a fraction of the expanse, and if we can retrieve the data from DuJa'Q's sensors, it could prove invaluable."

"I can try ma'am, thank you." Stephanie meant it. It was harder to deal when you had nothing to focus you on but this would be perfect. "May take a few days... is that ok?"

"Of course. I imagine it will take longer than that given the differences due to Klingon translations and categorization," Lirha answered. "Keep me informed of your progress. Commander Ban can assist you if you need a second set of eyes."

Steph nodded feeling better for having a job she could do to focus on. "Will do ma'am. I may have to check with him on some of the higher Klingon math as I never quite got that far. Should be ok for the lower stuff."

"Very well. If there's nothing else, you're dismissed," Lirha said. She had work of her own to return to and the day was shaping up to be quite busier than expected.

"Thanks ma'am." She had to get back to her daughter who had an amazing capacity for mischief.

[OFF]

--

GEN Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
IKS DuJa'Q

Lt Steohanie Caine
Chief Researcher
IKS DuJa'Q

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