Unveiled Scheme

Posted on Mon Nov 20th, 2023 @ 8:40am by Lieutenant Commander Annalise Faulkner & Lieutenant Asher Stagg

Mission: S1 Episode 6: Joy and Ashes
Location: Ready Room; Gladius
Timeline: Date 2371-09-04 at 2330
2163 words - 4.3 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

In the grand scheme of things, when one took into consideration all the officers in the fleet, Asher wasn’t really the most pro-torture one out there. Still, when push came to shove, he was efficient and knew how to apply pain just as well as he knew how to apply pleasure in other situations. The curtain-faced alien had screamed, he had cried, he had begged for his life, and he had even asked for death, but the security guard hadn’t stopped until he was sure he knew everything the man knew. His slight aversion to the practice made it so that he was quick about it and got it done without dragging it out any longer than it needed to be.

When it was all over, he went to grab a quick drink in his quarters to clear his head. Then, with newly-refreshed energy, he walked to the ready room and pressed the chime.

“Enter.” Annalise called out.

When Asher walked in, her eyes went up to him and she put the PADD she had been reviewing down on her desk. She was back in uniform again and her hair was pulled up into a regulation bun; still beautiful, but now it was certainly business.

“Come have a seat. What have you learned?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” He asked rhetorically as he followed her orders and took the seat opposite the desk in her small office. He placed a PADD with his report on the desk in front of her and sighed. “The fucker says the Kazon sent him to help arrange a rendezvous with the Vengeance about a week from now. He says they didn’t tell him anything else, and believe me, I made sure, but I’m certain it’s a precursor to an ambush. They probably want to get rid of them if they’ve been as destructive in this quadrant as he says. We might just be the bait.”

“Mm…” She hummed pensively, placing her fingers on the PADD he had put down and sliding it closer, though she didn’t look at it. “From what you were able to gather, this is genuine, though? The Vengeance is out here?”

“If he hadn’t really seen them, we’d know it right from his mouth. Unless he’s miraculously mistaken, the Vengeance is out here.” He said with a frown more than an expression of excitement. Who knew what the next few days would hold for them. “But the bigger question, in my mind, is why are the Kazon using this man to try and stage a little Terran family reunion?”

“That is the question, yes.” Annalise sighed and sat back, rubbing her temples slightly. “Any idea where exactly this little rendezvous is supposed to happen?”

“A nebula about 16 hours away from us.” He answered, activating the PADD with one hand and sliding the stellar cartography readout to her. “He says they will be in the area and should be contactable from a position near it.”

“I assume we don’t know where they are right now then.” It wasn’t as much a question as it was a statement. She looked down at what he had put before her, terribly introspective at this moment in time and hard to read. After a very long moment, she looked up at Asher again; her expression was firm, determined in a way.

“We’re going to have to find them, Asher. We don’t like to talk about it or acknowledge any part of it… but the fact is this ship won’t survive a journey home on its own. It wasn’t built for that and we have already lost a not insignificant portion of our crew.”

“Not to burst the bubble, Annalise, but the Intrepid Class wasn’t built for this either.” He argued, crossing his arms under his chest. “It’s just more mouths to feed. And I’ll bet Petrov won’t be the one taking orders from you.”

“They aren’t, but they are more equipped than we are to handle this. They also apparently have a fleet with them and have resources to support themselves.” She lifted her hands up to indicate the dim lights in the ready room. “We don’t even have that. Of course Petrov won’t take orders from me, he’s a captain and he has the bigger ship. I don’t care. I’m concerned with getting the last twenty-two people we have on this crew home safe, not about dick measuring with Petrov.”

Asher frowned as he watched the woman. What she was saying made sense, he had to admit, but he was still deeply uneasy about the possibilities ahead of them. It wasn’t justifiable for them to avoid the Vengeance and, in the end, such an act might indeed end in their eventual demise. Still, pulling the trigger on an unknown like this was more than he was expecting.

“Fine. Damnit…fine.” He said, leaning back in his chair. “So, what the hell do we do about the obvious setup that led us to this glorious find? If we go along with the plan the Kazon gave this man, we won’t make it out.”

“Well, I would say we go there now, we would be ahead of schedule.” Annalise pointed out. “Wolff and Urso could certainly figure out a way to amplify a communication signal to get out to the Vengeance quicker as well… but I am open to suggestions.”

He shook his head quietly.

“They probably aren’t ready for their plans yet and won’t be expecting us.” He said. “Unless you’re wrong, in which case we’re thoroughly fucked. I just wish our cloak still worked.”

“Do you think you could work with Urso and get it repaired?” She didn’t want to spread Kit or her people too thin, but if they could do it, it needed to be done.

“If you think it’s worth the resources this time around, I think we could get it up and running again.” He said with a somewhat surprised expression. “It’s a bear of a power-drainer though, so it would have to work in getting the Vengeance’s attention.”

“I know it’s a risk, between the message and the cloak we would likely severely deplete our power reserves, though Wolff did have a promising project he was working on that might help with that particular problem.” She sighed and rubbed her chin slightly. “What do you think?”

“Think it’s inevitable, and if they really are out here, we have to look for them while we still have a ship under our feet.” He said without any hesitation. “Our cloak can be repaired, and if they are as strong and resource rich as he claims, we won’t have any more problems when we find them.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Annalise agreed with a nod. “Any other suggestions you have up your sleeve, Asher?”

She smiled pleasantly at him then. Asher was a grade A fuck up as far as officers went and had nearly been removed from the fleet on more than one occasion. The Gladius was his last chance to make something of himself - one that he likely would have failed if they had remained in the Alpha Quadrant under their original captain. Under Annalise’s gentler approach, he had been able to rise to the occasion; he was still far from perfect, but he did at least seem committed to trying.

“I suggest we keep the crew from getting their hopes up too much.” He said, looking genuinely concerned even as she broke her formal act and smiled. “I trust my interrogation and I know what he thinks he knows, Anna, but..this news is too perfect not to trigger my bullshit alarm. Something is really wrong.”

“I know, and I agree, but you also know I’m right in that this is likely our best chance for survival in this quadrant.” Her voice was gentle and she held his gaze, acknowledging his concerns and not dismissing them out of hand, but she seemed determined to press on.

He leaned back and threw his arms behind his head, looking at her past a relaxing expression. He knew how to let things go, that much was obvious.

“It will be what it will be.” he said simply and gave a subtle shrug. “Salvation or something worse.”

“Then go and get it done, Lieutenant.” She prompted him, giving him a nod and a smaller smile to show her faith in him. “Keep me updated.”

“Sure.” he said with a smile of his own before standing. He wasn’t sure if she made sport of ignoring his mischievous humor or if she was just genuinely not interested in him personally beyond keeping him in line. He didn’t lose any sleep over it, of course, but the thought did occur to him at times like this. “The uniform it is then, huh? Maybe I should slide a damn curtain over my face. What’s an XO got to do to see a bit more skin around here?”

He smiled and turned his head comfortably, watching her. These were the sorts of antics that had always gotten him into trouble. Fortunately, they were almost as good at getting him out when the circumstances were right. He was who he was, and he wasn’t interested in pretending otherwise.

Annalise laughed softly and shook her head. “I don’t wear it all the time, Asher. You just tend to be around when I am. Besides, I did say you weren’t offering enough gold and riches. You could start there.”

The flash of her smile let him know she wasn’t serious. Here such things meant nothing, and even when they were home she had been less concerned about that in her life. She wanted love and stability more than any of that.

“Most women settle for abs and dick. That’s the problem with you fancy girls, I guess.” he said, adjusting his uniform jacket a bit. “They say a man can have only two of three traits: good person, good in bed, and has his shit together. Well, I’m a near-drop out with a selfish streak. That means I’m 1 for 3. For women with serious daddy-issues, I’m a steal.”

Annalise leaned forward on her desk and put her chin in one of her hands while she looked at him. “Really talking yourself up there, Asher. Unfortunately for you, I have a very attentive and loving father.”

He shook his head gently.

“I don’t need to talk myself up. I know who I am and I know what I want. When we’re like that, we don’t have to pretend for other people.” he said somewhat seriously, but then he smiled. “And even good girls make mistakes every now and then.”

He took several steps back toward the door. He thought a bit about what Kit had said about him and Annalise and dismissed it. He was only joking, after all.

She frowned slightly at his words and how he withdrew from her, immediately sitting back up instead of the more relaxed position she had taken up. Her brows were knit together just slightly and the frown lingered. She had only meant to tease in kind, not offend him. Unsure of what to say, she simply nodded and then hurriedly picked up one of the PADDs on her desk again given he was on his way out.

Now he was confused. She’d disengaged so immediately from him that he had no idea how to take it. He was good with women in a certain way and he had been all his life, but he never really understood them. He was unusually self-conscious and rarely doubted himself emotionally, so he never understood the subtleness they displayed. He could pretend, but it never came together. That was life without a mom, he supposed. Clearly there was some kind of misunderstanding, but he wasn’t the kind of man to stay and hash things out. He kept it light, he moved on, and he came back when the moment had passed.

“I’ll get those reports on the cloaking device up here soon.” he said confidently, his voice displaying an even and neutral baritone.

“Okay. Thank you.” She glanced up at him and gave a little smile that was nervous and apologetic all at once, then back down to what she was holding. She remembered to activate it then.

He gave a shallow nod and turned to leave without lingering. Confused as he was, he knew it didn't matter as much as she might think it did. People tended to overestimate the value of addressing problems directly in his mind. Sometimes directly ignoring the problem was the most effective solution there was.

END