Intelligence Interlude

Posted on 25 Sep 2024 @ 2:40am by Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Commodore (Brevet) Harvey Geisler

2,557 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Shattered Unity
Location: Intelligence
Timeline: June 21, 2390 || 1500 hours

Joey paced the floor inside her office with a padd in hand. The levels of frustration she was currently feeling were great. In fact, she felt a headache beginning to form, but there was very little she could do about it at the moment. Hopefully, being a bit proactive by doing some research would help alleviate that and her frustration.

Not only was Joey doing her share of research, but she also had her team doing the same. If they were lucky, there would be something they missed, and if not, then maybe there was something new that could be found. With all hands on deck, she supposed anything was possible, but wasn't counting on it. Pessimism seemed to be pretty common for her lately, and she didn't like it.

A chime sounded from the door speakers. The sound was certainly obtrusive to one whom was aggrivated while others would accept it as a welcome break from monotony. But how would Joey handle it?

Joey looked to the door as her brows drew together. She wasn't expecting anyone, and asked not to be disturbed unless it was important. So, was it important? "Come in," she called as she tossed the padd onto her desk.

The device crashed with such a clatter as the doors opened. Though Harvey normally tuned out their trademark swooshing sound, he was startled by the metal on metal clanking from across the room. "Bad day?" he asked, pausing in the doorway.

She blinked, not expecting her husband to be the one to walk through her door. Joey wasn't sure if he was there on an official capacity or not, but decided to play it safe as she cleared her throat and pulled the hem of her uniform jacket down. "Apologies," she said. "It's been... frustrating."

"What's to be frustrated about?" Harvey asked. He meant for the question to be rhetorical, so he stepped inside and quickly added, "We've only had two major attacks in the last week with basically no indication of who did what. If you ask me, it's almost as if someone is quietly and quickly covering any tracks left behind."

He approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "At least, that's what I thought was happening with the Gaittithe. We got to Unity before anyone else arrived and there was even less to go on."

"So many things point to the Dominion, but they claim to have nothing to do with any of this. I was just looking to see if there might be anyone that might act alone. The Breen were a possibility, but doubtful," she said. "It just seems like we're never going to figure this out. At least not before more lives are lost."

Harvey took in a deep breath, held it in for a moment, then exhaled. He looked into her heavy brown eyes and went for an attempt at reassurance. "Staring at the same lack of information will only make you go insane. Maybe it's time for a break and then we can look at changing tactics."

Joey sighed. He was right. Not only did she need a break, but so did her team. She had them working just as hard. "Do you have something in mind?"

He smiled, moving his hand from her shoulder to her waist in order to draw her close for an embrace. "For a break or tactics?"

She returned the smile as her arms went around him. His presence always seem to make her feel better, and she was grateful for that. "Both, but I'll go with the break for the moment."

"Excellent choice," Harvey said softly, placing his forehead on hers. Chuckling, he added, "You know, I can't stop thinking about the other day. We've never done anything like that before."

Joey closed her eyes as she relaxed even more. "It's definitely been on my mind, too," she admitted softly, her hands moving over his back. "I know we wouldn't get caught, but the idea of it was quite exciting."

He couldn't help but laugh, even though it was a gentle one. "I don't think you've ever been that forward. It's like something new has gotten into you."

She opened her eyes and smiled as she placed a kiss to his lips. "You seemed to appreciate it just as much as I did, and you mentioned a break just a moment ago."

Her kiss, however tender, was electrifying. Harvey couldn't place it, but there was something different about her touch and her actions. It seemed as though many of her inhibitions had been stripped away and it was like they were first seeing each other again. "Oh, I appreciated it. Very much so."

Joey smiled as her hands moved from his back to his chest. "Want to give it another shot?"

"Here?" Harvey asked. He wasn't alarmed, even though his tone sounded surprised. He hadn't expected the tryst in the Captain's Mess, and they'd never even considered anything outside their quarters or the holodeck.

"Why not?" She countered with a twinkle in her eye. His surprise wasn't lost on her, nor was it the first time. Things weren't going well as far as their current mission were going, and what better way to forget for a little while? "Things would be a bit more comfortable here. We have the couch, chair, my desk..."

Harvey chuckled, tightening both of his arms around her waist. Looking once more into her brown eyes, he smiled and said coyly, "Why decide now? Let's start with this and see where the moment takes us." And that's when he leaned in to return her kiss.

Whatever madness had gotten into her lately, Joey was more than happy that her husband seemed more than happy to indulge it. She kissed him back, content to let him take the lead this time and to not rush things so much like she did the last time. But, more than anything, she wanted to enjoy their alone time together without the risk of their twins or dogs interrupting them. That kind of being caught was much less exciting.

Unlike the experience in the mess, Harvey wanted to savor this moment as much as possible. One hand remained on the small of her back while the other softly moved upward, tracing her spine and filtering through her long hair before it came to a stop behind her head. The hand slowly molded itself to match the neck's curve while the fingers had each slipped into their own space within her hair. During all of this, he continued to kiss her, with each one gentle and full of passion.

Joey shivered and returned each kiss he gave her as her fingers moved to the zipper of his jacket and lowered it until she was able to push it open. She was on the same page as he was when it came to wanting to savor the moment, but she also wanted more access to him. With her lips against his, she whispered his name and pulled back a hair. "Computer, lock the door," she said, before meeting his lips once more.

She was a half second too late with her request as the door chime sounded. The door, thankfully, didn't open, but that didn't stop someone from actually knocking on the bulkhead. Harvey tried to ignore it, but he still slipped in between kisses, "Don't... make me... share you..."

Joey didn't want to stop, but she did have her people looking for anything that might have been missed. What if someone found something? "I don't want to," she said softly, her lips brushing against his. "But, it could be important."

"How important could it be?" Harvey mused, slowly twisting his fingers in her hair. His lips left hers, traveling slowly along her chin and then tugging at her earlobe.

She closed her eyes, unable to resist his fingers in her hair and lips on her skin. Joey was he fighting an internal battle between wanting to answer the door, and not wanting to stop what he was doing. There was only one option. Keeping her voice as steady as she could, she called out to whoever it was on the other side of the door. "What is it?"

Her question automatically activated the comm system. "Commander," came the voice of Petty Officer Sokamin, "I have a new analysis of the wreckage at Unity. I seem to have found something we overlooked."

"Dammit," Harvey whispered. While he had not stopped his efforts, Harvey found himself forced to pause. This left his mouth slightly open and allowing his breathing to exhale across her neck. He found himself torn between wanting to hear what Sokamin had to share, or convincing Joey to tell the Zakdorn to wait for a few minutes before sharing the news. As she was the Chief of Intelligence, the decision was hers to make.

She shivered, closing her eyes. Did she tell the Zakdorn to kick rocks and continue on with the break her husband suggested, or did she put duty above pleasure in hopes it was important? Joey sighed as she zipped his jacket back up, wanting nothing more than to make Sokamin pay for the interruption. "Hold that thought," she said, then moved to the door to open it. "What did we miss?"

The Zakdorn paused in the doorway, noticing Joey's pose. He then saw the newly minted Commodore, whose back was turned to him. But all the only clue he needed to understand what was happening behind the door was the fact that it had been locked. Clearly, Klim was interrupting.

And, clearly, he didn't care.

He immediately extended a padd to the woman. "We just completed a full analysis of the Unity debris field. Plenty of duranium and related composites, much like we would expect from a bunch of Starfleet wrecks. Plus, a fair share of birythium composites with hints of neutronium composites from the Dominion-designed Unity and the battleship that came to the aid."

She took the padd and looked to the screen, half listening to what he was telling her since it was on the device she now held. "Thank you, Petty Officer Sokamin. I'll look this over with Commodore Geisler. You and the others take a break," she ordered.

"Commander," Klim cautioned, his tone urging her to not dismiss it so quickly. "Birythium is an element native only to a few sectors here in the Gamma Quadrant that we know of. By itself, it's weak, but it strengthens alloy bonds. The Dominion has its own metallurgical signature, but this... the alloy is of the same metals found in Jem'Hadar hulls, but a different composition."

Joey wasn't necessarily dismissing what he was telling her, or what she was reading. She was merely attempting to speak Commodore Geisler regarding the new findings. "So, either the Dominion, namely the Jem'Hadar, do have something to do with what's happened, or someone else has advanced their processing techniques."

"Something like that," Klim cautioned. "It's clear how we missed it before, and it's not much to go with. But it is something."

"Thank you for bringing this to me. Go take a break. You've all earned it," she told him as the wheels in her mind began turning.

Klim nodded, then left the room. By now, Harvey had turned around, now able to avoid embarrassment. "Hull composites, heh? Sherlock Holmes would be proud."

Joey looked up from the padd she'd been looking at and gave him her attention once more. "It's certainly more than we knew ten minutes ago," his wife said as she crossed over to her desk to set it down. "And, yet, it doesn't seem to get us any closer to anything."

"Aside from the fact that it's probably narrowing our list of suspects down to just the Gamma Quadrant, I'd say that's a win." He crossed his arms in front of his torso, mostly in disappointment that their moment of passion wasn't just interrupted, but disrupted entirely. "It still doesn't change the fact that we need information. The new task group deployments and our plan to bait these attackers out is bound to work."

"I certainly hope so, because we don't have many other options," she said as she leaned back against her desk. "I still think we should keep a close eye on the Dominion. They claim to have no knowledge, but too much points their way."

Harvey nodded, turning and leaning beside her. He wrapped one arm around the back of her waist and drew her close next to his side. "We can't afford to rule anything out. If it is the Dominion, they're playing their cards awfully close to their chest."

Joey laid her head on his shoulder. "And it would be damn near impossible to try to infiltrate them. Even if we could, they wouldn't appreciate it."

"Damn near impossible?" Harvey asked, a heavy chuckle escaping his airways. "One would have to be a changeling in order to slip past them. Even the Vorta would pick up on a bad clone."

"You think so?" She found herself asking. "What if there was a good one? Hypothetically speaking."

"A good what?" Harvey asked, a bit confused by the question. "A good clone?"

"Yes. That was a failed attempt at being funny. Given everything that's going on, a bit of humor felt necessary," Joey said, feeling a bit silly for her attempt.

"Sorry," Harvey remarked, placing his head on hers. "I'm so tired from today that I didn't even catch it."

Joey smiled as she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "There's no need to be sorry. I plan to pick up where we left off once the kids are asleep. You will have the absolute best night's sleep you've had in a while. That's a promise."

His smile grew, and he chuckled before and after returning her kiss. "I look forward to it." He pushed himself off of the desk, but not before making sure that Joey wouldn't fall on the floor once her support left her. "No working late."

"Oh, I can assure you that I will be on time," she promised. "The same goes for you. No working late. Dinner with the kids, baths and bedtime, then you are all mine."

A hearty laugh kept the smile affixed on his face. "In that case, this was a break well spent." He began to walk backwards, but in the direction of the door. He pointed to the padd that Klim had brought her and said, "Let me know if there's anything worthwhile in all of that."

"You will be the first to know," Joey assured him with a smile of her own. "And, remember that I love you."

"Not as much as I love you." Harvey brought his hand up to his mouth, kissed his fingers, and then blew her a kiss. A moment later, he exited the office, bound for the bridge.

She watched him leave, thinking how lucky she was to have him. With another smile, she picked the padd Klim had given up and settled down behind her desk to get back to work. Joey had a date with her husband and children after her shift, and she had no intention of being a second late for something so important.

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