" Operational Refusal "
Previous Post: "Rehad"
/\/\/\
Stardate: 60313.1310
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Bridge
Standing next to the XO's station the Romulan/Terran
hybrid waited for the woman in question to exit the
room they had been in, the COO needing to discuss
something with the ship's First officer. The Chief of
Operations did not have to wait long before Lt. Cmdr.
Rikar re-entered the bridge looking strangely pleased.
Noticing the COO standing near the back of the
bridge, the XO approached and said, "What can I do for
you?"
During the meeting the Romulan/Terran hybrid had
remained quiet for the most part, never having been
one to question orders or missions, but as she read
the specifics of her undercover assignment, the COO
had been unable to accept the role that she had been
told to play. Handing the PADD over to the XO, the
Ops officer explained her position. "Commander, I
have studied the Tal'Shiar from even before I was
enrolled in Starfleet Academy, but *this* is not the
reason why I spent all of those hours researching and
committing to memory the unique ways and methods of
the Romulan Intel Agency."
Having as surprised by the mission as everyone else,
the XO was not certain about what the COO had meant
until she took the PADD that the Romulan/Terran hybrid
had handed over and read its content. Reading the
details of the persona the Ops officer was meant to
portray Cmdr. Rikar could not help herself but smile
at the irony. "Look on the bright side of things, you
won't have to spend a great deal of time in the
make-up room."
Finding nothing amusing or uplifting about this
'bright side', the COO clarified her position so that
there would be no misunderstandings. "Commander, I
studied the Tal'Shiar to avoid as best as possible to
fall into their traps and to recognize their ploys
should I, and now we, encountered them. I did not
dedicate so much of my free time so that I could
*become* a member of the Tal'Shiar."
Thinking that the rest of this discussion would be
best handled away from the open are of the main
bridge, the XO pointed the Romulan/Terran hybrid into
the direction of the conference lounge where they
would be able to speak freely without fearing their
conversation being overheard.
/\/\/\
Standing instead of sitting, each woman said without
speaking that they expected this side meeting to be
short and to the point, something that the
Romulan/Terran hybrid greatly appreciated as she had
never been one to stretch or go around issues. "If
this event is as big as Capt. Simmons has said it is,
there is a very high probability that there will be a
Tal'Shiar agent somewhere in the crowd, so my going as
another is only going to make things more complicated
and may very well put the success of this mission at
risk."
Looking at the information on her own PADD, the XO
tried to understand the reasoning being the
assignments that had been handed over. Capt. Simmons
had seen fit to provide his First officer with a copy
of what each of the other members of the senior staff
had received, but that had been far from giving the XO
the understanding she needed to counter the COO's
argument. So using her background as a Cns and the
experience and knowledge she had obtained from her
wife, Cmdr. Rikar gave the Romulan/Terran hybrid with
a best guess. "We are members of SFI, and we could go
as far as to say that the NEW ALEXANDRIA and the ships
assigned to it are amongst the elite of that side of
Starfleet. Do you agree with me?"
Seeing no reason to disagree with the statement made
by the XO, the COO nodded her acceptance of what had
been said as fact allowing Cmdr. Rikar to continue
with her reasoning of what she believed had been the
purpose behind the assignment given to the
Romulan/Terran hybrid. "Do you personally know every
member of SFI to the point that you would be able to
recognize them if you saw them? Would you be willing
to believe, even if only for a brief moment, that
given certain circumstances you could come across
someone who claimed to be an SFI agent?"
Realizing how the XO had manipulated the situation to
reflect that there had been no way for any one SFI
agent to know about everyone one else, the
Romulan/Terran hybrid pointed out the only flaw she
could see in the Commander's logic. "It would not
take all that long to contact HQ and verify such a
claim. Although the deception might work for a short
time, the discovery of an impostor would prove fatal
to the mission and that agent."
Agreeing with the COO, the XO continued using all of
her knowledge and experience which she had obtained
over the years in the field and with Lt. Cmdr. Enaii.
"That is true, but contacting HQ, be it for SFI, the
Tal'Shiar or any other agent would mean that you run
the risk of exposing yourself to other Intel agents
who would be there, giving them the one proof they
would need to act against you. Since VEGA SIGMA is
located *inside* Federation space, it is unlikely that
a Tal'Shiar agent would risk contacting their HQ, but
it would make sense for the Tal'Shiar to send in
multiple agents from different areas to increase the
odds that they would emerge with enough to have made
this venture worth while."
Looking a little exasperated the COO took the PADD
containing her assignment back. "So I will have to
become a Tal'Shiar agent who is pretending to be
someone else during this mission. This should prove
to be an interesting, if not exceptionally demanding
challenge."
Tapping the Romulan/Terran on the shoulder as they
walked out of the Conference Lounge, the XO gave the
COO a last encouragement. "I cannot think of anyone
better suited for this task, and think of it this way:
you'll be in a position to point us out to whoever you
make contact with and point at any one of us saying
that you suspect we are some sort of poor desperate
SFI agent having too much fun for our own good."
/\/\/\
Lieutenant Serenna 2005 post #115
Stardate: 60313.1315
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Conference Lounge
/\/\/\
Serena Switt {serena1141@yahoo.com.au}
Chief of Operations / Second Officer
USS ANUBIS
