" Operational Consultation "
Previous Post: "Homework"
/\/\/\
Stardate: 60314.1040
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Corridor
Walking down the corridor, the Romulan/Terran hybrid
thought's lingered on the information she had been
reading a few moments ago back on the bridge. The
Intel file on Sevaal had been very detailed about her
professional exploits but the COO could not help in
feeling that there had been a great deal of
information missing from it, especially in the area of
the Tal'Shiar agent's personal life and the way she
interacted with others.
Being secretive was a way of life for any and all
Intel operatives, the ANUBIS' ILO being the most
visible example of this unwritten rule that agents
abided to regardless of which organization they
belonged to. Dealing in information meant that any
knowledge could be used against someone, and to avoid
being compromised personal aspects of an agent's work
had to be kept as deeply hidden as possible. Thinking
of Enaii, the Romulan/Terran hybrid could only imagine
how few people actually knew of Talia's existence and
parentage, as the girl would certainly be the one true
weakness the ILO had, or at least would ever admit to
in her dying breath.
Portraying a Tal'Shiar operative would require the
COO to slip into a role that she knew well enough to
despise, as and much as the Romulan/Terran hybrid
might have disliked the general idea, the chance to
discover a more personal side of the Romulan Intel
Agency had been one that could not be ignored. Having
read all that Starfleet had on that subject, the Ops
officer concluded that there had been only one last
source of information for her to consult to insure
that her portrayal of Sevaal was accurate; so she
would have to speak to Enaii.
Thinking it best to understand her own emotions and
feelings about this role she had been handed, the
Romulan/Terran hybrid thought it best to pay the Cns a
visit before seeing the ILO, something that wouldn't
happen for a while since the Intel Operative had still
involved in her debriefing and might not even be
reassigned to the ANUBIS given the outcome of the
process.
/\/\/\
Stepping into Ens. Mei's office, the senses of the
COO were assaulted by the sights and smells of a
different world which the Romulan/Terran hybrid had
not expected to find.
Kneeling in front of a Bajoran altar, Ens. Mei seemed
preoccupied by the candle lit symbol of that race's
faith. Recalling from the list of assignments that
she had quickly scanned, the Romulan/Terran quickly
deduced that the Cns was performing some sort of
research into her new role, something similar to what
the COO had done. Approaching the occupied woman, the
Ops officer thought that Mei had been given an
interesting assignment that would not have suited the
hybrid in any way, shape or form.
Having suddenly become aware of the COO's presence in
the room, Ens. Mei jumped to her feet and greeted the
unexpected visitor. "Lt. Serenna, how may I be of
assistance?"
Looking at the woman who had been Human the last time
they had seen each other, the COO weakly smiled as she
silently congratulated the aCMO's work in the
transformation that stood before her. "Being a
Bajoran suits you well."
Susan was about to smile when she was overtaken by a
fit of coughing followed by sneezing. She waved a
hand in front of her face and cleared her throat,
"Obviously not that well. I still have to get a hang
of this incense."
Susan gave one last choke on the fragrant fumes before
kneeling down and extinguishing the incense sticks in
a small pot of water she had beside the altar, "just
in case." she explained as she did this. "Fire
hazard." She gestured to the candles.
The Operation's officer looked slightly alarmed at
this.
"I assure you that the ANUBIS is sufficiently capable
of extinguishing any fires as soon as they arise."
Susan nodded, "All the same, can't be too careful. How
can I help you?"
"I... I wish to speak with you about the role I shall
be playing."
"Me?" Susan stood up and dusted her hands off, "I
thought Ensign
Summers would be the one to consult."
"It's more of a ... psychological consultation."
Understanding dawned, "Oh. Oh, yes. Of course." She
waved her hand in front of her face again and gestured
to the door, "But perhaps we'd be better off talking
about this outside. Somewhere were we can breathe?"
The two of them fled the fumes of the Counseling suite
and escaped into the corridor. "I apologize for this.
Not very professional." Susan said as they exited. "I
wasn't expecting to see anyone until Lieutenant Dawson
tomorrow. If you like, I found a lovely place on NEW
ALEXANDRIA where we can sit and talk..."
/\/\/\
The restaurant was as quiet as it had been the night
before. Susan was
happy to see that the tired waitress had gone off-duty
though to be replaced by an energetic and friendly
young man who introduced himself as "Derrik" and
seemed prepared to talk about the exact reason there
were two 'r's in his name until Susan persuaded him
(tactfully) that she'd leave him a bigger tip if he
left them in peace. Sensing that they had something
secretive to discuss (they were a part of Starfleet
Intelligence after all), Derrik led them to a table in
a dark corner, took their orders and then left them in peace.
"So." Susan began, "What's eating you?"
Serenna appeared to contemplate this, then announced,
"I am... concerned about appearing as an agent for the
Tal'Shiar."
Susan nodded wisely, "I read about your assignment. It
seemed like the perfect job for you... why the
concern?"
Thinking back to the morning and at the way she had
felt, the Romulan/Terran hybrid hesitated only for a
fraction of a second before opening up to the Cns. "I
am sure that you have read my file and are aware of my
dislike for all things Romulan, or more to the point
all things dealing with the Tal'Shiar. I have no
problem taking on the role that I was assigned, but
the emotions that I experienced earlier this morning
as I looked at the baner of the Tal'Shiar hanging over
my desk are troubling me."
Gasping at the news that the COO had the flag of the
Romulan Intel Agency hanging on her wall made Ens. Mei
take a few seconds to offer her comment on what had
been so far said. "You have the Tal'Shair's flag
openly displayed in your quarters?"
Looking a little shocked by the surprise shown by the
Cns, the Romulan/Terran hybrid elaborated on the
reason why she had selected such an odd piece to adorn
her wall. "The flag is meant as a reminder of the
types of people who are out there, trying to enforce
their ways on others. I make a point to look at it
each and every day to remind myself of what we have to
be on the lookout for. The Federation enlists worlds
and offers them as little or as much assistance as
they wish, but the Romulan Star Empire conquers worlds
and subjugates their population to their rules. What
the flag is meanly meant to remind me of is that the
Romulans, unlike the Klingons or even the Cardassians,
have a habit of doing a great deal of such work behind
the scenes and under the protection of the shadows of
the Intel world."
Having been made to understand a little better that
part of the situation, the Cns decided to meet the
directness of the COO's openness with the same and
jump right away onto the question that Ens. Mei
figured was at the heart of the hybrid's visit. "What
happened this morning? You looked onto that flag and
failed to feel the hatred that you had become so
accustomed to experience?"
Looking a lot more hesitant, the COO took a little
longer to reply this time around. "Actually, what I
felt this morning would be better described as a heart
felt understanding, maybe even acceptance in the way
the Romulan Star Empire goes about enlisting new
worlds into their ranks or undermining those who might
pose a threaten this ways, such as the Federation."
Derrik chose that minute to arrive and with a flourish
he presented them with their drinks and a big grin,
"Can I get you ladies anything else?"
Susan, who had been startled by his sudden appearance,
merely shook her head and Derrik seemed to sense he'd
arrived at a tense moment. He threw his smile to
Serenna and said, "I apologize for interrupting" and
disappeared again. Susan eyed Serenna over her hot
chocolate for a minute before stating.
"There's no harm in what you felt, Serenna. If
anything, it means that you will be more convincing in
your role of a Tal'Shiar agent."
Serenna looked down at her own drink, "I am afraid
that you may be mistaken. I fear that there could be
great harm in reaching that understanding."
"Why's that?" Susan took a sip.
The Romulan/Terran hybrid endeavored to explain her
meaning, "I... I have relied on that feeling of hatred
to... strengthen my resolve. So that I knew what I
was doing was right. Even when my job required me to
do the undesirable. I would persist because I was
working towards something. Towards preventing the
enemies of the Federation from infiltrating it or
threatening it. Does that make any sense?"
Susan nodded and placed her mug on the table, "Perfect
sense."
The Romulan/Terran hybrid looked surprised and Susan
continued. "How's your EARTH history, Serenna?"
The COO gave a weak smile to the Cns as the answer
formed in her mind. "Aside from what we learned at
the Academy I have to admit that my knowledge of
history tends to be more focussed on ROMULUS and
REMUS, but I do know about the major events that
helped shaped EARTH and lead it to become a founding
member of the Federation."
Susan nodded figuring that the Romulan/Terran hybrid
had likely covered the subject that she would be
mentioning next. "There was once a dictator on EARTH
called Adolf Hitler. He was the world's first real
idea of a dictator. He was brutal. But he came to
power not by coup or heritage, but through democracy.
People voted him into power. Why? Because he gave
them an enemy: someone to be afraid of. He used that
fear to convince them that they needed him. By giving
people an enemy to fight, he gave himself power."
Susan paused and took a sip of her hot chocolate,
"Now, by putting up the Tal'Shiar flag in your room,
you are doing the same thing to yourself.
I'm not calling you a dictator, but you're rallying up
your own mind the way he rallied up his people. Giving
them something to be frightened of and something to
fight."
"Do you need anything?" Derrik again. Susan frowned
this time and said, "No thank you Derrik. We'll signal when we need
something." She thought she saw his shoulders droop
slightly. No doubt he was keen on overhearing some of
this interesting Starfleet Intelligence conversation.
However, he faded into the background again and Susan
returned to her 'patient.'
"Now, back to the dictator. People rallied around him
to support him, children turned against their
families, over six million people were killed for no
reason. No reason other than he had driven fear into
these people and made them hate other people. Other
human beings just like themselves. Their neighbors and
friends. Hate. Blind hate. Blind hate killed all those
people and ruined that society."
Susan paused meaningfully, finding herself lecturing
again and hoping that Serenna was following, before
coming to the point, "The fact that you have reached
that understanding means that your hate is not blind.
It is well-founded. And" she smiled wanly, "You're not
about to follow Starfleet blindly. Knowing where
you're going is not half as important as knowing why
you're going there."
Serenna looked a little taken aback by that barrage of
information and Susan sighed, "I'm sorry, I'm not
making much sense am I?"
The Romulan/Terran hybrid once again gave the Cns a
weak smile, bringing the Ensign at the top of the
score list of people who had seen the COO smile
multiple times in their lifetime. "On the contrary,
you have made a great deal of sense and have helped me
in ways that I had not expected. Thank you."
Looking at the COO, Ens. Mei felt surprise and
exhilaration in having crossed a bridge that she had
expected to be an almost impassable one, that of
reaching out to the Romulan/Terran hybrid without her
putting up a barrier that could never be broken.
Grinning from ear to ear, the Cns thought that this
might be a good moment to expend this little meeting
beyond the limits of professionalism. Thinking that
they would likely be working together on many more
missions following this one, Ens. Mei could only see
benefits in being able to call Serenna a friend.
Looking down for a moment to gather her thoughts and
courage, the Cns did not notice that the COO had left
without saying anything more, leaving the Ensign to
find herself alone at the table while Derrik watched
on from afar. Feeling a little disappointed, Susan
sighed her reply to the hybrid's earlier 'thank you',
"Glad I could help."
/\/\/\
Lieutenant Serenna
and
--------------- 2005 post #133
Stardate: 60314.1045
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Counsellor's Office
Stardate: 60314.1100
Setting: NEW ALEXANDRIA
/\/\/\
Serena Switt {serena1141@yahoo.com.au}
Chief of Operations / Second Officer
USS ANUBIS
Tallulah Habib {thabib@eject.co.za}
Ensign Susan Mei
Head Counselor
USS ANUBIS
---------------
"Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own." - Adam Lindsay Gordon
