Anything But Brief

Posted on 19 Aug 2017 @ 5:26pm by Lieutenant David Moreau Jr & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler

2,013 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: The Finnean Crisis
Location: Chief of Security Office
Timeline: MD 6 || 0830 Hours

Moreau sat in his office working on his terminal with a small chunk of black ore that he had taken from the planet when he dropped the Starfleet woman. He hoped she had forgiven him, but he had seen an opportunity and taken it and that was part of his job. Now he sat working on the report that he was going to take to Captain Geisler soon and wondered if he should wait for the rest of the away team or simply head there himself.

Joey came to a stop in front of David's door and tried to adjust her uniform. There was no amount of pulling or tugging that was going to make it any less uncomfortable. All she could hope is that it wasn't very obvious. Soon, she promised herself. Soon, the Lieutenant would be in Operations getting fitted for a new uniform. She just couldn't put it off any longer.

Taking a deep breath, Corwin extended a hand and pressed the sensor that would ring the chime inside the Security Chief's office. She also owed him an apology for the last time they were alone, as well as an explanation. He deserved that, and maybe she'd be able to squeeze that in before they went to brief the Captain. Joey would know soon enough, but for now, she waited to be granted entry.

"Come in," David called. Why do I have an Assistant Chief? he wondered since everyone seemed to come straight to him.

Activating the sensors, Joey stepped inside once the door was opened. She looked to the man behind his desk. "Lieutenant Moreau... long time no see. Have you been doing well?" she asked, finding a bit of humor despite her discomfort.

"Lieutenant....Cordial? No, Corwin!" David slapped the desk. "It's been what, an hour? You've changed. How have the times been treating you?"

"Since we've last seen each other, time has been treating me kindly," she replied with a smile. "In all seriousness, I wanted to speak with you for just a moment and apologize to you for my behavior when we were looking over the footage from the da Gama. I want to explain a little bit."

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She really didn't want to relive any of this, but it was necessary. "Our last mission found us in a final battle with the Consortium. I'm sure you're we'll aware of that situation. I was the Assistant Security Chief at the time, and was assigned to lead one of two teams on Deep Space Eleven. Nothing about it was easy. Starfleet killing Starfleet, often times because those on the other side didn't know any better," Joey explained, fighting to keep her composure. "I was killed on that mission, shot... right here." She brought her hand up to the spot where she'd taken the hit.

"I ordered my people to continue on with our objective right before my heart stopped, but they didn't listen. Two of them managed to revive me, then got me medical attention. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be here right now. I owe everything to Miller and Gutierrez," the female Lieutenant continued. "The Consortium... they managed to infiltrate our own, and it seems like the Followers are doing the same thing. It's like a since of déjà vu. Being back here... it has me on edge."

David listened quietly before he spoke. "It's not an easy thing to accept," he said after a moment. "I've been reviewing personnel files since I came on board and saw that Petty Officer Miller had received a commendation for his actions in that battle. Personally, I think that's an injustice to the actions that he and others on your team received so little, but actions taken by Starfleet personnel are taken for granted. Oh, an award will be given and a note will be put in their records, but at the end of the day, they did what any officer would do."

"You, on the other hand, are a special case, Lieutenant," he continued. "I've looked at the unclassified parts of your file and put a few things together. Not much, but your training and service history mark you as an officer who does whatever it takes to get the job done. You've proved that time and time again. You're not like other officers who do their tour and either fade into the background or retire."

"I've been in Starfleet a long time," David said with a sigh. "I've seen some horrific things and been in the middle of the action in some of the most uninhabitable places across known space. Very few times have I came across an officer like you. So yes, this may be like déjà vu to you, but I know you have a very strong fire burning in your veins and you will use this experience to become even stronger in your defense of the Federation. You haven't run. You haven't resigned. You're still here and you're going to keep being here because that's what you do."

"Resigning was an option. After what happened, I couldn't put myself through something like nearly dying again, nor could I put my significant other through it, either," she said. A lot of what he said held so much truth to it, and Joey never actually wanted to give up her career, but Security would have eventually been her permanent undoing. "The move to Intel came up, and I took it. I even seem to be doing fairly well in my new role. Though... it's rough trying to forget I was once wearing gold."

"It isn't the color of your department that makes you who you are or what drives you to do what you do," he said. "It's your beliefs in what Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets stands for. You're one of the ones that new officers will look up to and model themselves after. When I first joined, I was in the Academy and a Admiral was giving a lectures. I still remember him telling us to look to the persons to the left and right of us and he said that only one in three of us would finish the Academy."

"You're one of the three and so am I. We'll be the ones who stand up on stage one day and give our own lectures and cadets will take our words to heart, or they won't. Those that do will be the ones who will be having talks like this one day," David said. "I have faith in you no matter the color you wear. That's because you keep going no matter what's thrown at you."

Joey couldn't help but smile. She didn't want to like the new Security Chief, but he was definitely growing on her. Maybe giving him a chance wasn't such a horrible idea after all. "Thank you, David. I know you're going to do quite well on this ship and become a valued member of her crew," she said, the smile still present on her lips. "You did really well on Finnea Prime, and that..." She gestured to the sample. "Was extremely smart. Maybe now we'll know what they're looking for. Have you gone to brief the Captain yet?"

"You're welcome and thanks. I had to grab something of what they were looking for. I was just preparing it," David said as he gestured toward his terminal. "I still wish that I had been able to scout around before we were noticed. I had to use the shuttle's transporter to beam back so the Selubassari wouldn't know I was already behind them. Then again, after seeing the dig up close, I wouldn't have had a real chance in daylight."

"You know... I was one of the lucky few that managed to escape from here just before all of this happened. If I hadn't, you would have found me in those pits today," Joey stated as that realization dawned on her. She wasn't the type to just sit back and let things happen, though. "Then again... maybe not. They would have had to kill me."

She looked at his terminal and nodded her head. "I'm fairly sure Captain Geisler will want you to bring that to Science so it can be studied, but you'll know that for sure once we see him. I planted a couple bugs while we were on the surface. Maybe we'll get lucky, and those will reveal something."

He picked up the sample and turned it over in his large hands. "I hope I get to keep it as a paperweight when they're through examining it," he said. "It's rather unusual and has duranium in it." He looked up at her. "Be glad that they didn't recognize you, especially after you posed as a netgirl. You may have changed your looks a bit, but your physique is a bit harder to change and more than recognizable."

"I consider myself lucky in that regard. That they didn't seem to recognize me... not the other stuff," the female Lieutenant stated as she looked thoughtful. All anyone could do was speculate until concrete answers were provided, and who the hell knew how long that was going to take? "You know... what if the what we think is a meteorite isn't that. What if it was a ship? That's would explain the duranium, and why they may need to probe."

She knew she probably sounded crazy. "Why else would they need a Federation probe if they weren't looking for something that just may have been a Federation starship?"

David picked up the tricorder that he had taken scans of the ore while he was down there. "All it managed to pick up with duranium and other foreign metals," he said as he scanned the lump of ore he had stolen and got the same results. "Science will have to break it down to find out, but if it was from a ship, then it's not one that we know."

"We'll know more soon. At least, I hope we will. This could very well prove to raise even more questions we don't have any answers to," Joey pointed out with a shake of her head. "Should we go fill Captain Geisler in on what happened when we broke away from the rest of the group? I'm sure Doctor Kij has her hands full with the injured, and will likely report in when she has the time to."

David transferred the briefing he had been working on to a PADD and got up, taking the ore sample with him. "That sounds like a good idea. Let's go make the Captain either happy or angry."

"A mix of both, I imagine. Happy to have a sample of what they've been digging for, but he'll be pissed because we don't have Yuki or the probe. This has been one mission where I have felt less than successful."

"One away team doesn't make a mission," David said as he squeezed out from behind his desk. "A mission is a sum of its parts and we're just beginning. Now let's go. You say nice doggy while I hold the rock. I think that's what diplomacy is."

"I suppose you want me to scratch you behind your ear, too?" Joey asked with a smirk just before she stepped toward the door.

The big bald man laughed. "Nah," he said. "But I'll keep your offer in mind if I ever get an itch. Shall we?" He gestured towards the door leading out of Security.

"Not so sure my significant other would appreciate such things, but yes, we shall," Joey said before she made her way out into the main Security complex. "Do you want to lead the way, or would you rather I do?"

"Ladies first," David said. "And...you did offer."

"Such a gentleman," she said with a grin before moving to take the lead and escorting the new Security Chief to the Captain's ready room.

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