Total Dedication

Posted on Sun Aug 6th, 2023 @ 1:15am by Lieutenant Commander Yana Petrova & Lieutenant JG Corvin Hartjin
Edited on on Sun Aug 6th, 2023 @ 2:25am

Mission: S1 Episode 5: Ex Post Facto
Location: Planetary Ministry Building, Banea
Timeline: Date 2371-08-20 at 0300
1808 words - 3.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Yana Petrova was an enigma to many. Her rank, titles, and position made her deeply consequential in the Fleet, and yet she maintained a sort of quiet anonymity. Some people hadn’t even really noticed her, and she liked to keep it that way. Anyone with a past like hers liked to keep it that way.

She walked the hallway of the Banean Government Building where the away team was keeping its offices and temporary quarters looking for that of the Acting Chief of Security. She’d been watching him for a while; longer than anyone would have imagined. She stopped in front of the door and knocked gently. Adopting a feminine stance, this beautiful woman, who looked nearly fifteen years younger than she was, lowered her angular face and gazed at the door with her silvery eyes.

“Enter.” Corvin called out, seated at the desk he’d commandeered as he focused on the elements of the Banean government that would have had the means to facilitate an extraction like what happened with Lyra. He found himself repulsed by the very idea that the Baneans had the audacity to pass judgment over a Terran without even making more that a perfunctory investigation into the crime, but that they wouldn’t even consider her words. She was present, she was holding the blade and so thusly she was guilty of the crime. He was dressed down in the sleeveless undershirt that displayed the intricate scars that covered his arms while an untouched ration pack sat nearby and his mekleth blade laide sheathed within reach.

As soon as she heard his voice through the door, Yana pressed the key that opened it and walked in slowly. She strode in respectfully, her toned legs touching the stiff carpet beneath her uniform heels. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. She found him immediately with her eyes and she moved to the other side of his desk.

“Corvin, I was hoping you weren’t too busy.” she said, her Russian accent less subtle than that of her husband and children. She’d spent more time there than all of them, and less time at court.

“Ah, Commander.” He turned his attention to the Captain’s wife while he set aside the materials he’d been reviewing. “Have a seat, I’m just trying to make up for the deficiencies in what these aliens consider to be police work.”

“May I offer you a drink or something to eat?” He looked to the rations he had sitting out before turning his attention back to Yana. “Has there been an update on the Lieutenant?”

“Why do you eat that mush?” she asked, taking the seat in front of him and folding one of her legs elegantly over the other. She ignored his question, choosing to take the conversation in her own direction “You could easily return to the ship to eat or even bring some down with you.”

He looked to the rations and then to the Commander, quirking a brow before taking his seat as he watched the Captain’s wife with something like mixed curiosity and suspicion. “Before I was assigned to the Vengeance, I was a member of an Imperial Terror Squad, rations still are something that I enjoy.”

“Though currently its more practical for me to simply use them as a meal while I investigate how Lieutenant Cassiel’s abductors were able to so easily make her disappear.” Nothing he’d said was false, he was eating the rations because it was the more practical choice while he continued his investigation.

“Well, there is a lot to say for a soldier who is accustomed to living hard doing his job, but this Russian mother can hardly stand the sight of you eating that.” Yana said, smiling femininely. She was beautiful in a smoldering and symmetrical way with perfect features, and an innocent face, but her silver eyes always told a different story.

She regarded him now, those same eyes moving from his serious face to the strong body underneath and back again.

“You’ve been working hard, Corvin. Very hard.”

Was he being tested? His gaze moved over Yana’s womanly form, being more subtle than he might usually have been with anyone else since he was wondering if the Captain doubted his loyalty. He decided to send his wife to test him. He kept himself from frowning since such matters were a million light years away from his mind with Lyra missing; even when he’d been paired up with Ilan, his attention hadn’t left his task once to admire and ogle the loveliness of her enticingly feminine form. “It's what Lieutenant Cassiel would expect from me because she expects the best of her people, and as her second, I must maintain that same standard.”

It was the truth, Lyra expected him to be better, to be more than just the ground pounding grunt he’d once been. He was an officer now and that came with it a different set of responsibilities. A different way of interacting with others, one that he wasn’t used too, at least not so directly or considered to be someone (or something) that mattered beyond his ability to murder, slaughter, or fuck.

“Of course. She is, after all, your boss.” Yana said, her intense gaze growing as her eyes widened. She had a certain Russian gangster-esque presence behind her noble, graceful, caring facade. She showed no fear; she did no fidgeting; she didn’t need to look away. “And you are a dedicated soldier, a pillar of the Imperial Fleet. But..you are very focussed on pleasing Lyra Cassiel too, are you not?”

She smiled then. It was pretty and gentle, but her eyes.

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if you loved Lyra. She is lovely, brilliant, and strong.”

"I am dedicated to Lyra, she is all the things you mentioned." Corvin stated firmly as he held Yana's gaze. It was intense and reminded him of the eyes of the Klingon governor's wife, intense. Unyielding. Dangerous. "I owe my position to her, she sponsored my officer training, and my success, and failures, reflect on her so I want to make sure that I'm presenting my best efforts."

"I respect her relationship with your son, but my feelings towards Lyra are of respect and dedication." He finished firmly, denying what he felt for Lyra deep down, but he would leave what he felt unrequited, never spoken but shown through his actions and his devotion to her. A hound, loyal to his owner and ready to sacrifice himself for her safety and wellbeing.

Yana’s face didn’t change as she listened to Corvin, her eyes locked on him and her face unmoving, when he finished, she turned her head to the side and sighed.

“That’s good. Especially the part about respect. Because, you know, you’ll never have her.” She said, ignoring much of what he said. She didn't buy the professional act. “Sometimes men in your position think to just sit and wait; bide their time. Perhaps there will be a nasty breakup or she’ll get bored with him. Maybe they’ll even have a fight one day and she’ll want to get back at him.”

Yana grinned again, her hand finding the arm of the alien chair.

“And you’ll be there. Loyal, strong.” She said, her voice becoming more gentle. “I bet you’re a very attentive lover.”

“I know my place, Commander.” The Terran man replied, his tone and demeanor calm and collected as he slipped into that mindset of the blood pit fighting when one wrong move would mean the difference between life and death. “Lyra’s the kind of woman someone like myself fantasizes about, but we’ll never be able to have or attain. My place is by her side, not in her bed.”

“And even if I were ever a revenge fuck, your son would kill me for it.” He stated a fact since Andrei’s possessive reputation was well-known on the ship. “AS for my abilities as a lover, I’ve never heard any complaints,”

“I’m sure.” She said, rapping her fingers on the armrest again and again. “I wanted to ensure you didn’t forget that your position doesn’t come from Lyra alone. She got her position, rank, and way of selecting you…from us. And she isn’t the only one who can take it from you.”

“Of course, Commander, it is something I haven’t forgotten; I know she didn’t appoint me in a vacuum; I respect the chain of command.” He replied while giving her a respectful nod to show her he knew what hung in the balance.

Yana’s history included training far beyond that of a suspicious housewife or a Starfleet Officer. She wasn’t stupid. She had been taught by a man at the top of his field never to believe the words of a challenged man but to look at his character. And here before her was a man trained as a gladiator. A sword for the challenge and higher. A man who took his freedom, who took what he wanted. It was an attractive prospect.

“I’m so glad to hear that, Corvin.” She said, her voice warm. “A man who remembers what side his bun is glazed on is a man I can work with.”

It was an odd phrase to Corvin, but then again, until the Imperial military freed him, his exposure to human idioms was limited. “You don't grow up as a slave or a pit fighter without understanding the hierarchy, a skill that has proven useful once I was returned to the Terran cradle."

“I’ve owned hundreds of slaves in my life. Some good and some…good at other things.” She said, perfectly poised and comfortable with the conversation. There was little difference between her and Lyra in the end besides position, circumstance, and time. That was why she approved of her being with her son. “Very useful, some of them. Be useful. But don’t be stupid.”

She stood then, her eyes seeming warmer than before; genuine.

“I don’t want to take too much of your time, Lieutenant.”

Corvin took a moment to look over Yana, he wasn’t ogling her, but taking the woman in as she stood as he considered her words. There was a certain appeal to him for Yana, but he knew that to do more than appreciate it would be akin to signing a death sentence. Just a much more drawn out death.

“I plan on being useful, Commander, you have my word on that.” He gave her a nod while moving to stand as she was obviously preparing to leave.