Another Thing Marked Off
Posted on 30 Oct 2014 @ 11:09pm by Lieutenant Benice Gyce Ph.D. & Commander Scarlet Blake & Lieutenant Aria Rice
Edited on on 30 Oct 2014 @ 11:37pm
3,341 words; about a 17 minute read
Mission:
Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: Starbase 84 - Transporter Room
Timeline: MD 4 - 1430
[ON]
Gyce knew it was a huge cheat, transporting from one side of the station to the other. But she usually did that, when she was expected for any major appointments where time was of the essence.
The Bajoran touched her gold earring for good luck once more, pulled down the bunched up fabric of her tactical vest, and adjusted her khaki messenger bag over her left shoulder.
The master-at-arms had already inspected her secured evidence crate, and that, along with her wine, were now in the cargo bay. The wine, of course, would have to be inspected by the operations department.
When the doors of the transporter room opened, Gyce found her warm brown eyes looking at a woman who probably was a little old for ensign pips.
Gyce scrunched the ridges of her nose, upon seeing the other woman. Held herself like someone in security, for sure.
"Peldor joi, Ensign," Gyce greeted humbly.
"Err..is it the festival?" Aria Rice asked as she looked at the other woman before shaking her head. "All the days are just...so blended together nowadays. Feels like I have done this all day and night. I'm Ensign Rice, ma'am," she said, making a point of putting that the other woman was of higher rank than her. She walked to the woman and smiled gently, she recognised her from the personnel files. Well, name, picture, rank and position was all Aria had access to, but it made it easier to recognize a face. "I'll take you to see the XO."
"I'd appreciate that," Gyce replied as she looked into her messenger bag. "Sadly, it is not festival season for my people. But those of us from far older castes, use it in many of greetings and partings, to wish each other a good day."
"I see. Sorry, didn't mean to be insensitive. Don't speak any Bajoran," Aria said with a nod before leading her with her, talking a slow breath.
Gyce followed, with her signature limp and cane keeping pace with Rice. "So you are Ensign Rice? I only ask since the department roster has very few officers."
Aria looked at her with surprise before nodding. "Yes...I'm so sorry, ma'am, I thought I introduced myself. Yes, I am Ensign Rice. We have fewer officers as we are a smaller ship, ma'am."
"It's quite all right," Gyce waved aside while she stored each corridor and room they passed to memory. "Do you enjoy serving on a ship full of scientists? Or do you get restless at times?"
"It can get surprisingly...lively..." Aria admitted as she looked down, with a small smile. "So don't expect too silence, ma'am. But I am sure that the Commander can fill you in properly. I wouldn't know what you can expect..." and Aria was damned sure not going to say something just to be wrong. She was curious though why the woman was here. And why she wasn't Wyatt's new Assistant Chief. But it was difficult to tell anyway. There were always reasons for things and Aria just didn't have the rank or care enough to...well...care.
"So what is the commander like?" Gyce asked conversationally.
"I don't like to gossip about the command staff," Aria said before smiling. "But she is a great officer and has been on the ship for awhile."
"Detectives regard gossip like tips Ensign Rice," Gyce spoke with a small chuckle. "Neither is worth believing until they are proven as facts or discarded as fiction."
"Even so," Aria said and looked at her, giving a weak nod. "I don't speak of my betters."
"I was not pressing," Gyce assured. "I will probably be going through the crew records anyway, while the rest of you are on shore leave."
"Depends on your clearance, I suppose, ma'am," Aria led her to the turbolift, smiling as she got in.
"As long as it is not classified or a sealed file for command staff only, all personnel records are open for security officers to review," Gyce reminded Rice with a curious brow raise.
Aria looked at her before looking down. "Sure thing, Ma'am," she said, deciding that was easier. "Computer, Deck 2."
Gyce wondered if Rice was more of a brute, than a brain. Most of security details in Starfleet were, she quickly discovered. But Gyce dare not ask that. In fact, it was better to remain likable and approachable for a person of Gyce's talents.
The moment the doors opened, Aria started walking out, to head to the XO's temporary office. "Now, I am on Gamma shift, so you can always find me there. But I am sure that someone you like would be on a better shift, ma'am."
"I hope so. Thank you for showing me around," Gyce replied as she took in the various computer interaction strips along the walls. "And if you need anything, you can come to me at anytime, Ensign."
"I doubt I will seeing as I know my job, but thank you, ma'am," Aria said smoothly and winked, whistling to herself as she walked off, going to see who else needed to be escorted where.
Gyce blinked several times in confusion, after hitting the chime to Blake's office.
"Come in," Blake called out, scrolling down a long list of tasks that needed to be done now that they were running out of time. It was one of those days where every time she crossed something off, another three things were added.
And so Gyce did. Quiet, respectful. She noted Blake busy at work, so she walked inside with patterned thunking sounds from her cane's stopper hitting the floor.
"Lieutenant Benice reporting, Sir." Gyce stood relaxed against her cane but waited very patiently for Blake to recognize her.
Scarlet looked up from the PADD, taking a moment to come back into the real world before she nodded, motioning to the seat on the other side of her desk. "Commander Blake. Take a seat and tell me about yourself."
"Yes Ma'am," Gyce spoke respectfully and sat down slowly in the chair.
Where to start? That was the trick because almost all Bajorans told the same one, in one narrative or another. What was relevant? What revealed too much? The XO was very intelligent, when you looked her in the eyes.
"I studied to become a criminologist after the Cardassian withdrawal from Bajor," Gyce began with a bright smile. "Our school systems had not quite recovered yet, so I chose to study on Earth. There's really nothing too fantastical to tell about me, though. Most us Bajorans, at least my age, have very similar war stories, that I doubt you'd want to hear again, Ma'am."
"I suppose I'm interested in how and why you came to Starfleet," Blake admitted with a small smile, sitting back comfortably as she let out a soft breath. "Criminology could take you on many paths...why did you pick this one?"
"I requested to transfer to any posting, Ma'am. Command placed me here," Gyce corrected in a very respectful tone. "Suffice to say, leaving SFCIS was probably the only move to make in protecting my career, after I arrested my former CO for illegal arms trade. Someone so corrupt puts a lot of eyes on the unit. And I cannot do my job with so many eyes that think I'm the criminal because my former boss was."
"Why Starfleet at all?" Scarlet asked with a small smile as she tilted her head gently to one side. "What drove you to join the fleet....criminology could have led you to any number of home territory policing authority positions."
Gyce tiled her head as well. This felt like a job interview. One Starfleet handed her already. Finding a diplomatic way of refusing to answer, was a tough one. She could deflect the question back, but that only revealed to Blake that Gyce was hiding something.
What did the idealistic, young runts say to XOs in positions like this? Gyce mulled over that. Answering questions that were both truth and lie was a tough skill to master, one she learned a long time again when Cardassian prisoner guards dragged her in for questioning. The wording meant everything. So she went with a truth that could not be disputed.
"I guess..." Gyce began with only a half a second to pause in thought. "I guess it is only right I give back to the government that aided me in a time of need."
Scarlet held her eyes for a long moment, a slight smile playing over her lips. 'I guess'? It wasn't a strong conviction for a very decisive career choice. The ex-counsellor knew when she was being played. But that was fine, because Benice's caution and evasiveness so far told her a lot about the other woman in its own right. "I guess so," she replied softly, sitting back with a small smile. "Obviously, you'll report to the Chief of Security, Lt. Wyatt. You will need to report in to him as well as see to your medical check and your psych evaluation."
"I'll make sure to give my cardio logs to whom ever does the physical then," Gyce acknowledge. "As it is, I will be aboard ship doing security research and looking for any lacking spots that need more focus. Should probably have a full report on those findings for Lieutenant Wyatt by the time he returns from shore leave."
Scarlet watched with mild surprise. She wasn't particularly aware of any lacking spots that needed work. She would leave that to Wyatt to field. "You should take the chance to enjoy the shoreleave while you can," she advised with a half smile. "Usually, our missions prove to be rather hectic."
"I've already spent near a month relaxing, Commander." Gyce did not sound all too happy with that fact. "An overly excited ensign broke my wrist when he toppled on me and it's just now back in fighting form. So while I appreciate the advice, I'm ready to get back to my work."
"As you wish," Scarlet lifted her hands gently to gesture as she nodded, sitting back with a small smile, her back remaining straight in her usual military style. "Once your medical and psych checks are done, you're free to do so. Do you have any questions? Anything you need to know?"
"It's more that I have something you should know," Gyce corrected and continued, "...I met a Professor Seleya Qellar. She is to be one of your new science personnel. I would not say that she is untrustworthy, but I suspect she paid someone in the station's personnel so that she could bypass her lack of security clearance, and use me to attain a list of the ship's personnel."
Gyce frowned. Clearly she did not know the whole story for the Romulan needing her access and that bothered her.
"Putting a tail on her without clear proof of shady or criminal intentions would be unethical and unwise since she knows the Starfleet interrogation playbook. But I do not believe she is being completely honest about her reasons for needing that list, nor would she reveal that purpose through any standard ethical attempts of extracting such information. So I can only suggest we take a passive observation approach on our Romulan defector, until we find out if her being here is either good or ill for the crew."
Scarlet searched her eyes with surprise. She sat back, her features cool as she arched an eyebrow. "You suspect she paid someone to bypass security clearance? Suspect or know and have proof? That's a serious accusation to even suggest about someone who will be a colleague."
"She admitted to talking," Gyce made quotation marks with her fingers, "...station personnel into finding a member of security, assigned to the Galileo. And she admitted to needing my help to bypass the supposed red tape she is having to deal with. Just so I'd list off the members of the crew - which I didn't. The only name I gave her, was your Science Chief, since she would know about any projects that might conflict with Professor Seleya Qellar's projects - The supposed reason why she wanted the list in the first place - To talk to her science colleagues and see if any of them would have conflicting research projects."
The way Gyce spoke about the Romulan woman, one might think the detective found several red flags in the story to warrant mentioning it to her XO.
"So it's an accusation, Ma'am... But it's true. No one would tell this scientist who I was and where I am serving unless she either paid them off or blackmailed them," Gyce deduced rather candidly. "So the real question is... Who or what is she looking for, that she'd try to go around her security clearance?"
Scarlet frowned, tilting her head before shaking it slowly, clearly not agreeing with her deduction. "Or...she just asked about other new Galileo crew, seeing as there's a number of you on the station, and someone replied not seeing the harm seeing as we're all on the same team here...and maybe she just wanted to speak with her fellow science crew here, seeing as it's some time before we'll all be onboard together, or any other number of legitimate reasons for her curiosity. It all sounds like conjecture to me...a lot of assumptions and not a lot of fact," she leant forward, resting an elbow on the desk. "She had her inquisition as to her loyalty and motives when she defected. The Federation let her in. Now, she's one of us, and I wouldn't want anyone to let where she came from colour their view of what she is and does now. She was granted a fresh staff by people above our heads, I'm guessing it was for a reason," she tapped the top of the desk with a finger. "Unless you have some kind of evidence that she's actually done something wrong that warrants an investigation, then she's innocent until proven guilty, like any other member of our crew."
"If I had the evidence, I would be bringing a PADD with a list of charges on her that I would wish to press, directly to the station CO, since her presence on the station would be considered a security risk," Gyce corrected rather mildly, for she truly thought the XO was being naive, as all humans tended to be. "You hope for the best, but prepare for the worst in my experience. I'm saying I suspect she's not being honest about a lot of things, pertaining to why she wants the crew roster. And to know rather or not she bodes ill for all of us, is not going to be found out in an interrogation room because her family was part of the Tal Shiar. She knows how the interrogation game is played with the Federation. So all I'm asking is for permission to watch her passively for a while. If nothing turns up, I'll leave the matter as it is."
"Luckily, we are not our parents," Scarlet said shortly, shaking her head as she crossed her legs and rested clasped hands on her desk. "I want to be very clear. You are here to be a part of the crew. That means, we are all on the same team. It is not you and them and them and you. It is us. Together. Helping each other. You are here to protect and serve them. Not to hold yourself apart from them and look on at them from the other side of the line with a suspicious eye. You're here to help them, not spy on them."
"Think what you will of me, Commander. It is your right," Gyce spoke respectfully. "But I'm here to do my job. A job I have performed since I graduated. A job done best when I don't intermingle too much, so as to remain objective and am less likely to miss details others would. - A job I have only performed exemplary in. Good detectives work many different ways, however. And my way is certainly different than your way. Clearly... But working your way, for me, will get people killed or put in grave danger. Because if someone isn't looking at the surveillance feeds, or checking up on someone hiding a crate where it shouldn't be? Someone gets hurt or killed."
Gyce opened her hands as if giving up. "I will not spy on the crew. But my way or protecting it, starts with making sure what I see on the feeds or my own eyes, are harmless. Objectively speaking, Commander," Gyce ended, making it as clear as possible that no personal feelings were apart of her cases.
"Objective being the word," Blake said evenly, sitting back with the words to rest her hands in her lap. "The last thing I want is our crew being treated with suspicion if they've not done anything wrong. Now, any security concerns you have, like this civilian scientist one if you're still concerned about her, you need to take to your Chief, Lieutenant Wyatt, as he is responsible and in charge of all forms of security on the ship, to ensure that he believes there is enough concern and evidence to pursue an instinct before jumping ahead to observing people. So everything is all in proper order."
"I can abide by those guidelines, Commander." Gyce bowed her head respectfully. She was still right though, in that she believed their new Romulan scientist wasn't being honest.
Every one lies, though. Including Vulcans. Finding the intent behind the lies, was part of what Gyce was trained to do. But she knew when not to push. She would try her security chief next, clearly. And ask a harmless follow-up with the science chief too, if needs be. All names and deeds she added to her to-do list.
"If that's all Commander? May I be dismissed?"
Scarlet arched an eyebrow at the words; where she was from, a junior officer waited to be told they were no longer needed and to be dismissed, they didn't ask for it. In Scarlet's view, there was a hint of disrespect in doing so, and as she watched her, she was trying to work out if the other woman simply didn't see it that way, or if she knew full well it could be seen that way and had done it decisively. Unfortunately, it fell in line with her comments on being able to 'abide' by her 'guideline' rather than simply 'follow an order' as other officers did. She hoped her instinct was wrong. She didn't have the will, patience or time for game playing with wording, phrasing or any other kind for that matter. "Ms Benice, what I instructed you to do is not a 'guideline'. It is how you will conduct yourself when you are working onboard this ship and as a part of this crew. Understood?"
"I already agreed to follow your instructions, Ma'am," Gyce corrected respectfully, though she was honestly confused with the XO's response.
God complex? Probably, Gyce suspected. And decided to just remain silent and curious until Blake was ready to let her go.
"Good, then that's all dandy," Scarlet smiled with a brisk nod as she held her eyes. "Good to know I won't hear of any reference to flexible 'guidelines' rather than 'orders' being made, that's what I like to hear. Then in that case, Benice, that's all, you are dismissed," she partially mirrored her previous question, nodding to her as she opened her computer back up to start typing on.
Gyce nodded respectfully and made her way out of the office.
[Off]
Lieutenant Junior Grade, Benice Gyce
Security Investigations Officer
USS Galileo
CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo
Ensign Aria Rice
Security
USS Galileo
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