Statements

Posted on 15 Jan 2013 @ 12:28pm by Lieutenant Kiri Cho

1,734 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, Science Offices
Timeline: MD -02, 0845

Jeremy stopped just at the turbolift, still trying to get used to the idea of having Sidi at his side. The two of them, however, kept trying to get through the doors at the same time. For whatever reason, Sidi seemed to think he should go through the first.

He stopped and looked over his shoulder at Jeremy, licking his chops and seeming to smile at him - as if telling Jeremy where his place in the order of their partnership was. Automatically, Jeremy reached down to shake his ruff as he led the way down the hallway, hoping to avoid Lt. Panne and the problems from yesterday and paying more attention to find Cho's office.

He stopped outside and hit the chime.

Kiri was getting used to being in space again, there were sensor scans galore and a lot of work for her to be getting on with. That helped keep her mind busy enough that she didn't think about all the bad things that had happened. Her way of coping might not be remotely healthy but for her it worked and worked well. The new sensors gave her even more work to do than before and it was amazing. A top of the line ship with brand new sensors that could easily be the best in the fleet and she had helped design them, focus on the good things. When the chime rang she looked up from the mass of numbers and images, "Enter."

Jeremy entered the office, grateful to see Lieutenant Cho sitting at her desk. "Lieutenant," he said by way of greeting. "I don't think we've officially me. I'm Lieutenant Stone, the Security Chief aboard Galileo. I'm here because-" he stopped at the single low bark. Sighing, he continued. "This is Lieutenant Sidious, also of Security. we're here to discuss the incident from yesterday morning. Are you able to talk to me about that at this time?"

Standing up Kiri nodded and noticed the other, um, person. While Sidious looked like a dog, he had a rank, was he sentient? He must be but the idea confused her, "Um, yes, okay." She didn't really want to talk about but there wasn't much choice if he was here. A rather sombre look fell across her face, now she couldn't hide from it, she had to remember.

"Lieutenant Cho, are you alright?" he asked, watching her body language and facial expressions. "If this is a bad time, I could come back later."

"It is okay, I just," It was a dog right? It started to distract her even as she tried to explain, "I don't really like thinking about it." If she could completely forget about it she would, it came back when she closed her eyes though. Or when she entered an empty room or one with strangers inside.

Jeremy frowned. He did notice the body language but she said she was okay to do it and he did have to complete the reports. He suddenly thought maybe one of the other crew could do a better job, Rhodes maybe? However, rumor had it the two of them were romantically involved, which would obscure his objectivity. "Okay. Can you take me through what happened? Then I'll need you to fill out an offiical statement. Just for the record." He gave Sidi the 'down' gesture. He scowled as he realized he must have done it wrong. "Down," he said. Sidi complied.

He would need to book time on the holodeck for training purposes. Having the holographic instructor would be greatly beneficial.

Maybe he was a dog then, "Okay, should I write it down or tell you?" Kiri had already recounted it enough times for herself, yet if it needed to be done then it was better to just do it.

"Which would be better for you?" he asked, "Bear in mind, Lieutenant, that I'll most likely have followup questions. So if writing it is easier for you, then that's how we should proceed. I want you to be comfortable here, Lieutenant. You've had a rough time of it already and I don't want to make it any worse for you."

That was kind of him. Kiri considered for a moment before resigning to the fact she had to tell him, "Well, I started to worry I had made a mistake with the program on the simulated computer core. I couldn't sleep so I went to check, then those two men were inside," At that she took a deep breath trying not to let her emotions show too much, at least a little of that worked.

"It's okay, Lieutenant," he said pulling a chair over and sitting. "Take your time." He made sure his PADD was recording.

Still standing she did so, "I asked them what they were doing there, they said that something had been stolen. When I asked what they didn't know, I only saw one by then. I asked them more and I realised something was wrong, I tried to leave and one of them grabbed me." Now it was getting much harder to control her emotions, "They said that," She choked, "They said they would kill me if I didn't tell then what I knew about the rod, that if I didn't they would kill Maenad as well. They said there were more of them," Starting to gasp she started to feel sick, "I know I shouldn't have, but, I told them that it was fake, that," Tears started to flow, "Then someone else came in and they shot him, then, I would have helped them." Deep breaths started to stem the flow as she wiped her eyes, she was meant to be stronger than this.

Jeremy held up a hand. "Lieutenant, I'm sorry, this is obviously a bad time. Is there someone you would feel comfortable being here, for support? I could ask the new counselor..." he blinked as he forgot her rank even though he had spent that session with her last night. "Meridian. Or a friend? Maybe Lt. Rhodes?"

Kiri shook her head and looked rather confused. Sniffing she dried her eyes and this time they stayed that way. How did he know she was friends with Rhodes? Regardless she didn't want other people to see her like this, or anyone but the fewer the better. Sitting down she bit on her lip, "They took my into the jefferies tubes, I tried to follow what they did but I didn't see really. But they had access codes for the ship."

"Any idea how they obtained the Captain's command codes?" Jeremy asked. That was one of his major concerns over this incident. Without those codes, then the intruders would have had to work harder on gaining access to the ship and would have been caught, instead of one dead and one escaped.

"No," Kiri shook her head again, "It wasn't from me," The last part she blurted out as she looked at her knees. That one she really didn't know, it shouldn't have been possible from the ship.

"Okay," Jeremy said, putting a hand on Sidi, feeling some tenseness in him. "What happened next?"

"They split up I think, I don't know, people were shooting," When she thought about it the back of her neck still hurt.

"This was in the Jeffries tubes?" Jeremy asked. "Where you injured in any of the shooting?"

"Not by being shot," Kiri didn't seem to get hit, even with all the fire all around. They weren't aiming at her though were they?

Jeremy sighed. "Lieutenant Cho," he said and frowned. "May I call you Kiri?" he asked as he stood and moved closer to the edge of the desk. "Kiri, Let's stop for a moment. Take a break. I'm..." he sighed, he hated lying. "I've got a condition and sometimes I just need to take a break. Sometimes things get a little overwhelming and I get...frustrated...overwrought...and just need to break from it."

He focused on Sidi for a moment before reaching to his pocket. Sidi sprang up onto his front feet, suddenly focused on the ball. "Get," Jeremy said as he tossed the ball to bounce off the floor and then to the wall. Sidi sprang after it, leaping up to catch it in the air. He trotted to Jeremy to give the ball back. Jeremy threw it again, changing the angle just slightly, giving Sidi a new direction to go after with each throw.

Kiri looked confused, remaining silent and still while he watched the dog. She would rather he didn't call her Kiri, he wasn't her close friend and she wasn't really comfortable with people even knowing her first name unless they were those friends. Dogs were something she had seen around growing but never really played with. Never had she seen an officer act this way and there was nothing she could say.

Jeremy sighed as his PADD beeped. He told Sidi to sit and pocketed the ball. "Lieutenant, I have another issue I have to go take care of. I'm going to need you to write me out a statement and send it to me, I'll be back for followup questions, if any. If you could get that to me by the end of the shift, I'd appreciate it. I appreciate your time, however."

What was that for then? Kiri looked rather dismayed. He had given her the option and she'd picked the one that would get this over with as fast as possible. Now he wanted her to go through it all again, maybe more than once? That wasn't fair, that was mean, he'd said. Looking rather upset her voice took a slightly sour tone, "Okay." She didn't want to, she wanted to completely forget about this.

Jeremy made sure to have a good hold on Sidi's lead as he walked out, clearly the Lieutenant was still uncomfortable and he wouldn't be able to work with her - his own inability to make connections a barrier. Not even a little loosening watching Sidi jump and grab for the ball told him that she was wound up too tight.

He checked the message on his PADD again as he made his way to the turbolift.

[OFF]

LTjg Jeremy Stone
Chief Security/Tactical Officer/K9
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Kiri Cho
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

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