ILLUMINARRPG: (8-0555)- CO- Captain Sekal, Commander Sienna Verin and CTO T'Mur

[Charles Gatling]

Mission: Death in the Shadows
Day: 8
Stardate: 2446.02.08

(USS Illuminar - Deck 1 - Bridge - CO- Captain Sekal, Commander Sienna
Verin and CTO T'Mur - 0555)

Coming on shift rather earlier than desired after the late, and at the end
humiliating night caused Sienna to not sleep well at all, Quinna's words
having cut her to the core. Things she had shared came out in a verbal
tirade designed to leave Sy broken and bleeding. But T’Mur was there, and
supportive and had been there most of the night listening to her toss and
turn. It had been on T’Mur’s advice that Sienna had gotten up way too early
for her own comfort and dressed in her uniform. Since T’Mur was not letting
Sy go anywhere on her own, the two had headed to the bridge a few minutes
before shift change. Sienna spoke quietly to Gregory then headed into the
Ready Room with T’Mur to wait for the Captain to come on shift.  She had
sent a message to his PADD asking him to meet her in the Ready Room.  So
she sat on the black synthaleather couch with her cup of cold iced mocha
monstrosity and waited patiently.

Sekal stepped through the opened turbolift door and looked about the
bridge, taking in the activity for a moment before continuing. The ship was
now on its way to their destination and operations were proceeding
smoothly. Barging in upon ongoing operations was a common misconception, a
good Commander immersed himself in the ambiance for a moment before
proceeding. Satisfied and with a nod to his third officer he continued to
the Ready Room.

"Commander, Chief T'Mur." He spoke as he stepped inside then moved to the
replicator for a pitcher and glasses. "What is this meeting concerning?"

“Surely you have a better imagination than that.” Sienna spoke, her words
cutting more than she intended. “Sorry, not enough sleep. Last night.
Quinna and her little scene. You just watched her? Does she need to be
relieved of duty? Because that is not the Quinna I’ve known since Mars.”
Sienna sipped her caffeine, the only thing keeping her on her feet,
literally.

The replicator opened and he took the items from it and carried them to the
desk, poured a glass of water for himself and took a long drink before
refilling it and moving around to his chair where he sat down. "I felt no
compulsion to answer her accusations. On what grounds would you relieve her
from duty?"

“Because she is not acting like herself, she is acting like a paranoid
delusional … crazy person.  It has to be some vestige of that implanted
personality Rito or whoever it was.” Sienna shook her head, trying to get
the cobwebs out. “I don’t know what possessed her, but that was not
Quinna.” Sienna nearly growled the words. “Unless you know something I do
not?” Sienna looked at T’Mur for a moment, “Whatever you say she will know,
regardless.  We should upgrade her security clearance.”

The accusation was out and on record. "Luma seal the ready room. Command
code Zeta 3 black."

=^= But Luma desires to hear! The Quinna hurteds our Sienna! =^= No Luma
was not happy.

"Initiate the seal Luma."

There was a hiss through the speakers before all went quiet, you could hear
a pin drop in the ready room.

Sekal checked the monitor to ensure compliance then looked over to the two
women. "I am indeed upgrading Ensign T'Murs status." He took a small black
box from a drawer and set it on the desk then opened it. It contained a
single empty pip. "Lieutenant T'Mur this is yours. Please step forward."

Of all the things that she had anticipated happening through the course of
this meeting T’Mur had not expected this. She did realize that she had
access to privileged information being the First Officer’s mate, but had
not realized that a promotion was in order to have clearance. She stepped
up to the captain’s desk.

Sekal stood to his feet and added the pip to her collar forming the
Lieutenant's row then placed the box back in the drawer. "Congratulations
Lieutenant."

T’Mur did not look at the pip, but only at Sekal. Logically she should
thank the CO for the opportunity, but this meeting was not precisely about
logic. She started to speak, but caught herself. She needed to hear more
before she spoke, and Sekal inferred that her new status would lead to more
information. So she simply nodded and said, “I appreciate your confidence
in me.”

Sienna watched in utter delight, then squealed in joy, “Congratulations,
Lieutenant.” She spoke with so much warmth in her voice. ::That pip looks
good on you. Though…:: She teased a moment, ::No one better say you slept
your way to the top.::

T’Mur looked at her with a questioning eyebrow, ::Why would anyone think I
received a promotion due to my sleep habits?::

::On Earth it was common for people to say that a woman advanced because
she mated with her superiors. It was considered a rude thing but was
common.::

She stepped back and stood beside Sienna on the sofa.

Sitting back down he leaned forward and logged her new rank with a level 6
clearance using the holographic interface he pulled up before speaking
again.

"Background information is required. The cover for Agent Weston was blown
during the operation resulting in an attempt on his life. When he came
aboard I brought Chief Lee into an interrogation in sickbay which was
theater intended to show he was no longer trusted or trustworthy. His
orders were to report to me directly and only to me to impart the
information he had gathered. The plan was going smoothly until I was
attacked which necessitated a healing trance. Unable to report to me Mr
Weston confided in Doctor Solice and exposed her to the ongoing operation."

Sienna’s warmth and joy faded as Sekal began to fill her in and a cold fury
settled in the pit of her stomach. She was going to eviscerate Weston for
this, “He did what.” The words were cold and clipped, “He endangered her?
Is endangering her still? And you are letting this happen?”  The fury was
there, burning in her, “She’s a doctor not an intelligence officer!” She
quipped the great legend Dr. McCoy without realizing it.

T’Mur put a hand on Sienna’s shoulder, ::Take care my love, his story is
not complete.::

"If you will allow me to continue Commander." He quirked an eyebrow at her.
"This caused a number of ripples ending in the Doctor using the device to
enter crewman Sanchez's thoughts which I believe due to the timing is where
she was exposed to the synthetic personality. The cause and effect that
arose from this is that she felt responsible for the attack on Commander
Verin and became emotionally cemented in a desire to expose and take down
the organization responsible, Roanoke."

“Again, and with all due respect Sir, she is a skilled Doctor and surgeon.
She is not a skilled intelligence officer. We went to her, we explained
that we didn’t blame her, but I guess she does blame us.” Sienna stopped
for a moment thinking, “If her big reason for wanting to help in this mess
is that attack, it wasn’t her, and I don’t blame her for it. I’m absolutely
thrilled that we managed to eradicate the personality, at least I hope we
did. What does this have to do with her act last night being a harpy?” She
used earth slang.

Sekal sat back. "I am well aware of the good doctors strengths and
weaknesses. I spoke with her after yourself and Lieutenant T'Mur left the
room where she stated her desire to be involved and I ordered her to step
away from it. Her reply made it clear I could not trust her to remain aloof
and the desire to protect her 'family' is strong. It was my assessment that
if left to her own devices she would involve herself ending in her death
therefore I gave her no choice, she could do so in concert with Mr. Weston
or not at all. Mr Weston came to me with the same concern later that
morning but I made it clear his unintended involvement of the doctor had
led us to this point so they are operating together in an attempt to
ingratiate themselves with the operatives aboard."

“You could control me enough not to go haring off, trying to find my twin
and his ship, but you could not control our Doctor to keep her out of
this?” Sienna seemed...incredulous that he didn’t manipulate this better.

He shrugged. "I merely supported your father in his confrontation with you
and in the end you had been given no choice. Doctor Solice refused to
listen to logic. Her emotional stake in this matter is too high. Had the
attack on you not happened I could have dissuaded her but she has made this
an emotional crusade and no amount of 'manipulation' on my part would have
changed the end result except to insure that she had … backup."

Sienna shook her head again, a clear tell that she disagreed. “I guess we
will see what happens, but I did not appreciate the way that Weston handled
Dr. Solice and if he ever lays hands on her again hard enough to leave a
bruise, I will make sure  he has two broken arms for his trouble.” That had
really ticked her temper. “What ‘evidence’ do they have that you are
corrupt?” Sienna had not been privy to the Mars mess at the time,and  only
heard bits and pieces afterwards from various sources. “Is it the
‘evidence’ that you guys had on Mars?”

The CO shrugged. "There is no evidence of corruption on my part that cannot
be refuted by facts but crewman Sanchez appears to have been indoctrinated
into Roanoke at least partially with lies and aspersions on the character
of a number of individuals including myself. It would certainly have made
the order of my termination more palatable. Mr. Weston does have a padd
that was in the crewman's possession that we believe may aid us in
uncovering the operations of the group but it is sealed and perhaps set to
erase if tampered with. Quinna may have the password which she retrieved
from his mind."

Nothing the Captain had said so far was surprising to T’Mur. The show from
the previous night seemed too… perfect. If Quinna had been attempting to
isolate herself from her friends she had gone about it in a most logical,
emotionally, manner.  She could see the logic of the captain’s reasoning,
but she knew that Sienna would not see it. She was too emotionally attached
to Quinna and isolating her would be difficult.

Sienna leaned back thinking, “We are positive there are operatives still on
board? When I spoke to Vice Admiral Winters on Vulcan she was convinced
that we had several but could not give me concrete information.”  Sienna
looked back towards T’Mur for a moment as she thought. “I can’t distrust
everyone, and having a bodyguard is disruptive to morale.  As much as I
adore my bodyguard being so close to me, it will not work long term.”

"And ceasing to use babysitters may lull any left into complacency, a
logical plan." He noted.

Sienna knew that T’Mur was not going to like this plan. So she waited
before saying anything else.

T’Mur looked from Sienna to the captain back to Sienna. “Are you saying
that you no longer wish me to act as bodyguard?  I might have an issue with
that. However I will comply if ordered to do so. I would then request to be
on shift with the Commander on all shifts.”

“I think not having a bodyguard is a bad idea in my case, and getting Lee
to agree is going to be a challenge.  I want T’Mur with me all the time as
well, for the selfish enough reason that this bonding is not settled and
being apart from her is very uncomfortable. I know I can not defend myself
if they come after me, and I think that unless they took both of us out at
the same time, it would not be worth it.” She looked up at T’Mur. “I don’t
know how to reconcile my own safety vs the needs of the ship.”

“Your safety is still, and always will be, a primary goal for me, bodyguard
or not,” T’Mur said resolutely.

Sekal shrugged. "If that was not your intention then what were you trying
to say Commander?"

“I suppose that I was mostly thinking out loud. You are capable of
defending yourself and what you do matters more than what I do. You would
be within your rights to declare that since I can’t defend myself that I
keep a bodyguard. I’m not great at the cost vs benefit analysis when it
applies to lives.” It was something that she would need to develop over
time.

"For my part a bodyguard is an extraneous move that takes personnel away
from duties to which they are needed more. The attack by Sanchez was
completely unexpected but there will not be a repeat of a lack of
attentiveness on my part. You may keep your bodyguard but I will dismiss
mine." Sekal drained the glass then set it aside. "Have your questions been
answered to your satisfaction?"

“What are we expecting to happen when we reach Sigma Draconis?” She was
quite curious about that bit.

He steepled his fingers for a moment before continuing. "I expect Roanoke
to make another move if this is tied to them in any way and will be on my
guard. As for the planet, if we are correct then they will have a facility
on the planet in the uninhabitable zone and once found we will send down a
force to secure it. There will no doubt be elements in space that will be
spurred to action by our attack and will need to be driven off or
destroyed. A Federation presence on the planet will be necessitated in the
future and we will remain on hand until they are set up. Once that is
accomplished…" he leaned forward, "... we will go on standby while awaiting
permission to proceed to the Altair system."

“Captain,” T’Mur said suddenly, “what is the limit to the doctor’s
participation in this operation. How far will she be allowed to proceed?”

Sekal turned to face his chief tactical officer. "Once the operatives
aboard are taken into custody the doctor's participation will end. This is
not her desire since she wants to find the Admiral behind them but once it
goes beyond this ship I will allow her to go no further."

“I must ask,” she continued, “how can we prevent her from going forward. We
were not able to prevent her involvement to begin with.”

Sienna nodded, “Exactly this. She’s not likely to listen and back off.”

He placed his hands on the desk and leaned forward. "If she decides to
break my orders I have a well stocked brig for those who do such things and
I am fully prepared to use it in order to see to her continued safety. Are
there any more questions?"

“No, Sir. But as a friend, Sekal, I hope you know what you are doing. But
I’m a worrier. I think I will head back to my bed for a nap before our
shift. I did not sleep well last night after that confrontation.”

"I am well aware of what I am doing and if seeing to her safety requires
confining her to the brig I am fully prepared to take that step as I
already told Mister Weston. You may rest assured of that Commander."

Sienna stood up, “I will see you at 1400?” She asked, eyebrows raised.
“Also, the two of you need to coordinate my future torture and bruise
making sessions.”  As she referred to her self defense lessons.

He gave a brisk nod. "Your training will begin after this mission
concludes. Until then I am going to be far too busy for it."

Sienna walked away, heading out onto the bridge and waited by the
turbolift, to head back to her quarters for a good long nap.

T’Mur hung back for a moment. “Excuse me for saying so Captain but I am
concerned about the effect this is having on Commander Verin.  She is an
excellent first officer, and she takes the lives of those under her very
personally. I am certain you are aware. I felt it necessary to say it out
loud.  Request permission to perform my duties on both Alpha and Beta
shifts.”

Sekal looked at her for a few drawn out seconds. "You have permission to
take Beta shift Lieutenant. You may designate an officer for Alpha shift or
I will assign one. I expect you on the bridge at 1400. Dismissed."

(Reply: None)

(Posted by  Melinda Gatling (Sienna)
Al Muir. (T'Mur)
And Charles G  (Sekal)


Charles Gatling
Commanding Officer
USS Illuminar
NCC 61240


"The light shines brightest amidst the deepest darkness."
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