Sins of the Parents

Posted on 10 Jan 2022 @ 1:58pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Commander Scarlet Blake

2,526 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: Regula I - Level 16, Administration Module
Timeline: MD 04, 2318 hrs

[ON]

The hour was late aboard science station Regula I. Mess hall evening service had ended just over two hours ago and many of the facility's personnel were in the process of retiring to their shared quarters for the night. The novelty of the small starbase was beginning to wane on the Starfleet visitors which meant even the recreational lounge was sparsely populated compared to the previous day. The corridors were empty aside from a few Gamma shift crew who conducted their routine rounds. For the most part, the station was quiet and subdued while it silently orbited the large purple planet designated Remidia I.

Inside one of the station's administration modules, however, the midnight oil burned. Commander Morgan Tarin perched over her desk's LCARS terminal with several large PADDs neatly laid out across the table in front of her. Her eyes shifted between the various screens while a concerned frown imposed itself upon her forehead. Her dark curly hair cascaded across her cheeks down to the tops of her bare shoulders. The Starfleet uniform vest she wore was without a traditional red undershirt, exposing her toned arms and shoulders to the elements. A large mug of raktajino was situated nearby which she occasionally retrieved and sipped while deep in thought.

After many long minutes of evaluation and contemplation, Tarin's slender fingers tapped the commbadge above her breast. "Commander Blake, this is Commander Tarin, Regula One. Report to my office. There is a developing situation."

There was a long moment of silence before Blake's voice came back over the channel. "On my way," she said softly, a hushed tone with a change of breath that indicated she was moving.

It took a good five minutes or so before Blake pressed the chime, letting herself in when she was given the go ahead. She took in the work on the desk, the corner of her lips quirking with it. "I'm guessing it's not a cosy, fun kind of situation."

Tarin looked up from the screen in front of her when Galileo's first officer entered the circular administration module. Her perturbed expression remained unchanged after hearing Blake's witty remark. "No." There was no jest or lightheartedness in the tone in her voice. In fact, she held the fellow commander's blue eyes with her own for a longer-than-usual moment. This was the first time they'd spoken since the debriefing three days ago.

The strategic operations officer looked back down to her LCARS terminal. "What do you know about this area of space and Starfleet's operations here?" she asked, her fingers now tapping against the screen's interface. "Did Saalm brief you?"

Blake shook her head gently as she moved to the desk, drawing close to the side of it. "Not much actually. Which is a little unusual in its own right. I took it to mean that it was need to know, and I didn't need to know."

Good, Tarin privately thought to herself. It seemed Saalm - despite the shortcomings on her service record - had acted prudently to preserve the integrity of Starfleet's local endeavors. The first officer was correct in her assumptions. She wasn't privy to additional information because it didn't concern her. But that was about to change. "What I'm about to tell you is classified information above your grade," she prefaced. "You will not disseminate any of it under any circumstance without my permission. Understood?"

Blake folded her arms carefully, a slight frown appearing on her features at the foreboding words. She didn't like where this was headed. At all. "Of course," she said softly with a nod. "Understood."

"The Pleiades Cluster, where we're stationed, is a formation of young stars aged 100 to 200 million years old," Tarin started to explain. "Ancient Earth astronomers once called this region of space the 'Seven Sisters' because of the stars' luminosity and their contrast to the surrounding Class D Reflection nebulae. Actually, history records that the scientist your starship is named after - Galileo Galilei - was the first to observe these stars through his telescope."

Scarlet nodded silently to indicate she was taking it in. She was no Science officer, so this wasn't her speciality by any means, but she was surprised to realise that not everything she was saying was completely new to her. Maybe serving on a science ship had started to rub off a bit. Either way, she was still pleased to have the clearly informed officer to bring her up to speed.

"This part of space," continued Tarin, "is a latinum mine of research possibilities. Young stars give our astrophysicists the opportunity to study celestial formations and develop new technologies - similar to how metaphasic shielding was developed twenty years ago." She stood upright then turned away from her desk and the Galileo officer to take in the stars beyond the large windows. "We're doing good things here, Blake. Our research is progressing above the most optimistic projections." Tarin's head dipped for a moment before she turned around again.

"After Regula I was moved to its new location and refitted in the '70s, Starfleet Command also determined that the Pleiades Cluster was an appropriate place to establish additional specialized research facilities. Ones that were isolated far enough away from the core worlds to pose no threat should certain experiments fail. Have you ever heard of...a cold station?"

Blake finally sat down as she shook her head lightly. "No," she said quietly, watching her carefully. She resisted the urge to out and out ask her what had gone wrong. Being called to the office in the middle of the night...specialised research facilities...the look on her face. Something had gone wrong, and she wasn't going to like it.

Tarin watched the XO sit then cleared her throat. What she was about to tell the first officer was way outside of any clearance the woman possessed. Even discussing the existence of cold stations made the strategic operations officer anxious. "They are top secret research facilities unofficially associated with the United Federation of Planets. They exist and are operated by the Federation, but technically do not exist." She gave Blake a hard look. "Do you understand?"

Blake blinked as she took the information in, holding her breath for a moment. She wasn't naive, she knew such places must exist. But to hear it, as fact, not a concept, it was different. The conflict it could pose with other elements of Federation principles. "Oh, I understand," she assured quietly, shaking her head slightly.

The Regula I officer analyzed Galileo's commander's seated posture and facial expressions in an attempt to determine her fortitude. Nothing she saw from Blake indicated the woman would betray what she was about to reveal. "One of these facilities, Cold Station 31, is located in a nearby sector and recently went dark. They are mandated to check in with me on Regula I at 24-hour intervals....it's now been almost three days since their last transmission. Something is wrong."

Blake looked to the window, her jaw tight. They'd just come back from a mission checking in on people who had gone silent. And it had been beyond bad news. What was going on? Officials letting these people go to isolated, remote places to carry out risky ventures. The icing on the cake had been being interrogated to try and work out why it had gone wrong. "Undoubtedly," she finally replied, looking back to meet her eyes.

"In the event that a cold station misses two comms windows, protocol is to dispatch a starship to investigate," Tarin explained. "I have four docked here at the station from your task group. But only one is capable of sortieing. Lagrange, Kali and Solaris are still transferring Latari colonists for relocation and undergoing BDA repairs. That leaves Galileo as our only available asset."

"The ship may be ready, but the crew are in the middle of some well earned, and needed, rest," Blake replied quietly, shaking her head with a slight frown. They'd been through a lot, and three months of monotonous flight was not the proper space required to process it properly.

Tarin moved her hands to her abdomen then clasped them together stoically. "I'm aware. I debriefed you and Saalm just three days ago. I know you've all been through hell recently but time isn't a luxury we have. How soon can you have the warp core spun up and all primary systems ready?"

Scarlet took a deep breath as she looked away, clearly not happy about it. She knew the crew would step up when asked, but it didn't ease her concern. She was silent, but knew that putting off the inevitable wasn't going to do anything. "Six hours," she replied, her features cool and voice clipped.

The fellow commander guessed as much. Restarting the matter/anti-matter reaction was a delicate process that couldn't be rushed. Afterwards, the plasma flow regulators would need to be regulated then calibrated before the nacelles were brought online. Six hours was standard shipyard protocol. Tarin knew the crew of Galileo could do better. "You have four," she firmly ordered. "Muster the crew and get everyone to their stations immediately. Wake everyone up and get them back onboard. I'll coordinate with Frost and station operations to expedite our departure."

Blake's features remained still as she held back a sarcastic remark about why she'd asked if she'd already decided how long they were going to have. She'd known as soon as she'd walked in that this was going to ruin her shoreleave.

After Tarin relayed her order, she procured a large PADD from her desk then handed it to Blake. "Orders from Starfleet Command," she prefaced. It was half her idea and half Starfleet's, but she would never tell that to the first officer and undermine her without proper explanation. "I'm taking command of Galileo for this mission."

Blake read over the padd with a frown, her muscles starting to coil tighter as she saw the truth of it in writing. "This is a terrible idea," she finally replied, shaking her head sharply as she slid the padd back onto the desk. There was a sting in her voice, but it was the sting of cold honesty.

There was a long silence in a thick cloud of uncomfortable air before Tarin spoke again. "Thank you for your endorsement." Her sarcasm was as dry and obvious as a plump targ waiting to be slaughtered. "I served six years as first officer aboard Lexington and have intricate knowledge of this region of space." She started to pace around Blake. Slowly. Judgingly. "I've read your file, commander. Maybe you'd prefer to command Galileo and extend Saalm's legacy of insubordination? With some children's' crayons on your console?"

Blake remained motionless, her hands dropping to rest lightly on her hips. Anger sparked at her bringing her child into it, something that just confirmed her opinion of the woman...but her features and eyes remained icy cold. "I'm flattered by your interest," she replied on a monotone. "But nothing you've said changes that this is a terrible idea."

Tarin finished her meticulous pacing then came to a stop in front of Blake. "Objection noted, XO." She emphasized the abbreviation and stared into her eyes with hard, unconcerned features. She'd dealt with former Marines before in the fleet and many of them exhibited the same sort of outward hardness. That didn't make them any better than her or the fleet personnel, despite their arrogance. Tarin would be sure to remind this one to stay in her lane. "You have your orders. Dismissed."

Blake held her eyes for just a moment longer than necessary before nodding, her hands falling to the side. "I will be making my objection official," she assured her quietly before moving for the door.

Galileo's new acting captain watched Blake walk to the exit in the administration module. Just as the first officer approached the door, Tarin called out to her. "Blake. A final word?" She walked towards the fellow officer to meet her.

Blake half turned back to her, one hand resting on the arch of the door, the other on her hip. "Yes, Commander?" she replied shortly, her pale features a picture of practiced stoicism.

The tension became palpable in the room when Tarin stopped in front of the first officer. They were face to face now, both of similar height and physical fortitude yet worlds apart in their upbringings. "I know who your parents are and what they did." The tonality in her voice was low but her inflections started to border on menacing. "My mother and father worked in the Diplomatic Corps during the Dominion War. Everything your parents did undermined years of their progress. Decades of delicate negotiations with the Cardassians to maintain peaceful coexistence. They betrayed the Federation and its principles because of their selfishness. They sacrificed the lives of other diplomats and their staff who were captured then tortured as retribution. And the lives of other Starfleet officers because...they were self-serving and didn't get their way."

Tarin took a breath then briefly looked away from Blake. "I won't judge you for the sins of your parents. I'm glad the Maquis were destroyed. All of them, forever. But if you ever betray me or your crew for some personal vendetta like they did..." she shook her head. "I will make sure you spend the rest of your days in Rura Penthe. Understood?"

If it were possible for Blake to turn a whiter shade of pale, she managed it. She watched her with disbelief at the casual nature the other woman rattled her background off at her. Something beyond private and into painful. There was a long moment of aching silence as she searched her features, trying to work out if, after all that had happened and all that she had done in the name of duty, she truly thought that she'd betray the crew or Starfleet...or was it just an excuse for her to send a poisoned barb her way. Either scenario didn't make her think particularly highly of her. "For someone who says you won't judge me by their actions, there was a lot of judgement in that threat. You thinking that I could even be capable of that shows why this is a terrible idea," she whispered. "Can I leave now? I have....under four hours to get a six hour job done."

With a flick of her head to the corridor, Tarin silently dismissed her. She'd said what she needed to say despite the interpersonal ramifications. In her opinion, serving in Starfleet was a commitment and a duty. Cordiality was a luxury. She was an upfront woman from a New York City background - if anyone else on the Galileo had a problem with her, she would soon find out.

[OFF]

--

CMDR Morgan Tarin
Strategic Operations Officer
Regula I
[PNPC Saalm]

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo

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