" Intrigue "
(Previous Post was Serena's " Tactical Lull ")
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Stardate: 60298.1631
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Shuttle Bay 1
The young woman followed the imposing CEO without saying a word… all previous attempts to have David tell her what he had wanted to show the ExO having resulted in either a wiry grin or a motion for the redheaded woman be quiet and follow. Eventually it became clear to Sabrina that the only way she would find out what this special discovery had been was for her to continue walking and stop asking the same question over and over again.
Curiosity had always been the young woman's strength as well as her Achilles' heel… forcing her to do more research than her studies required… and causing her to become overly frustrated when the object of her inquisitiveness proved to be out of immediate reach. When the CEO and ExO walked into the shuttle bay containing the Romulan ship, the ExO knew that her wait would soon be over and that she would finally get to understand what had made David act as he had.
The young woman gazed in awe at the relatively small vessel of Romulan design, never in all of her career having been so close to something that she had only seen in holo-images or simulations. There had been no mistaking the ship's origins, the Romulan Star Empire never having been shy to hide their presence, usually counting on the simply sight of their ships to instill fear in all who say them.
"It will be easier for you to see what I wanted you to see if you keep moving." The CEO said with a teasing grin, having noticed that the redheaded woman had stopped dead in her tracks… her eyes traveling the entire length of the captured alien vessel.
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Stardate: 10298.1633
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Shuttle Bay 1, Inside Romulan Frigate, Corridor -> Bridge
It had taken a little while for the ExO to get over the initial shock of seeing the Romulan ship, but her curiosity about what David had brought her here to see had quickly won, sending her feet moving once again. As impressive as the outside of the vessel had been, the inside had been even more interesting to the young woman who could barely manage to keep her eyes on where she was going. Luckily for Sabrina, David had not been an easy man to lose sight of, allowing her to keep up with him even though she was not entirely paying attention as to where he was heading.
"Watch your head… this supporting bulkhead is lower than the others." The CEO warned, obviously having first hand experienced the lower setting of the large metallic beam that hung overhead.
"Interesting colour scheme… although I would not trade this layout or the general feel of it for that of the ANUBIS… or any other ship in the Federation for that matter." The young woman announced as she made her way through the narrow corridor bathed in an eerie emerald coloured light.
"Not much father… we are almost there." Dawson offered, the tone of his voice hinting that he was anxious to show what he had found to the redheaded woman. Suddenly, as they entered the command deck of the Romulan vessel, the CEO came to an abrupt stop causing the young woman to almost run into him since she had hurried to catch up with him. Tilting her head to be able to look around the massive frame that stood before her, the ExO was totally shocked to see what had caused the Engineer to stop has he had.
"Enaii? What are you doing here?" Sabrina inquired certain that the ILO had not been the reason why the CEO had brought her all the way here for.
"That's what *I* would like to know?" David snapped loudly, anger lacing his every word.
"Research." Was the ILO's cold and unemotional reply as she began to walk towards the pair and past by them without meeting either of their gazes.
"Enaii?" The young woman offered as the ILO walked past her, noticing something peculiar about the expression on the blond haired woman's face. Although the 2 of them were life-mates and shared the responsibilities of upbringing their daughter Talia, Sabrina had to sadly admit that there were still a great many things that the redheaded woman did not know about Enaii.
"It's gone!" David exclaimed after having returned from a quick investigation of the secret room in which the 2 Romulan Tal'Shiar agents had been hiding all this time.
"What is gone?" The ExO demanded, noticing a burning fire in the towering man's eyes indicating that whatever he had been referring to had been of significant importance to him in some way.
"I bet *she* took it… why else would she have been here? I knew I should have taken it when I found it, but I wanted for you to see it as I had found it." The CEO angrily offered, pointing a rather accusing finger in the direction of the ILO who had not stayed to witness the engineer's outburst.
"*What* did she take?" The young woman forcefully demanded, wanting to know what exactly had just happened and if Enaii had been the one who should be blamed for it.
"In there… I found a small holo-recording. The device was clearly of Romulan origin and after having insured that it was not some kind of an explosive device I turned it on to see what the image contained in its memory chip was. I was expecting to find some secret plans, technical layouts or maybe even a message from their superior, but what I found stunned me." David explained, tempering his anger towards the ILO with sadness and disappointment in not having been able to show what he had found to Sabrina.
"Will you just tell me what it was instead of running around the bushes at warp speed." Sabrina huffed, now more than ever puzzled beyond words about all of this.
"It was a family picture… a Romulan man, what I could only guess to have been his wife and her holding their little girl." The Engineer described, looking back into the secret room to see if maybe he had made a mistake about the placement of the item in question.
"What was so special about that family picture that you had to drag me all the way down here without telling me what this was all about?" The ExO inquired, also curious as to why David had been in such a rush to blame the ILO for this apparently insignificant and trivial item.
"The little girl in the holo-image was Talia… or at least a young girl that resembles her like some long lost twin. I didn't say anything to anyone because I wanted you to see it before *she* did. How she managed to find out about it and get here before we did still baffles me." David offered with a deep sigh, his disappointment and frustrations having completely overshadowed his previous anger.
"I'm sure that you made a mistake… there is no way that the holo-picture you found was of Talia in the hands of another couple. There is no way that Enaii would allow her daughter out of her sight and into the arms of a Romulan couple." The young woman stated, certain that the CEO had made a simple mistake.
"Sabrina… I may have been wrong in a lot of things before, but not this. The girl in the picture looked like Talia, which is why I wanted you to see it… because frankly the questions that came up after I saw that picture were just too important to ignore. As the ANUBIS' ExO and her wife… you were the right person to show this to, but now she has it which only confirms what I have been saying. That picture, however impossible it might seem, was of Talia in the arms of a Romulan couple."
As much as the young woman had wanted to jump to the defense of her life-mate, Sabrina had to admit that having seen Enaii here and with the expression that had been on her face only lent credibility to what David had said. Faced with so many questions and uncertainties, the redheaded woman had no other choice but to seek out the ILO and find out for herself as to the identity of the girl in the holo-picture.
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Sabrina Jones {sabrina_sweet@hotmail.com}
Commander Sabrina Rikar
Executive Officer
USS ANUBIS, NCC-18501
As well as…
Lieutenant Kittianna
Intel Coordinator
NEW ALEXANDRIA
"We are Grey, we stand between the Candle and the Star, between the Darkness and the Light"
-Entilza Delenn, Babylon 5
2005 post #012
