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Our Mrs. Dox

Posted on Wed Oct 30th, 2019 @ 10:19am by Artan Pirate Dana Nyn & Jaeih Dox-t'Aan
Edited on on Thu Oct 31st, 2019 @ 10:59am

Mission: Family Detention
Location: Observation Lounge, U.S.S Hera
Timeline: 2396

On the Hera, parked at Jupiter Station, there was a minor air of concern. Much of the senior staff was off ship, and while the majority of the crew simply assumed they were docked for shore leave, a small handful of officers and personnel knew better. They knew that the Captain, Commander Paris, and Lieutenant Dox were at Starfleet Command defending their careers in light of the recent kidnapping of the Romulan Lieutenant and her mother, and the Captain and Commander’s decision to infiltrate ch'Rihan itself to rescue her.

Standing in the Conference room and observation lounge set just behind the bridge of the mighty Starship, the Lieutenant’s mother, Independent Intelligence Operative Jaeih Dox, was waiting for her own interrogation and debriefing.

Looking out the window to the stars beyond with her arms behind her back, she was glad to still be on the Hera. Captain Telvan had made arrangements for her debriefing to be held on the Hera itself, keeping the Romulan woman who had been a prisoner of Starfleet Intelligence for 16 years from having to willingly walk back into her former prison. She was beyond grateful, though her face was impassionate and as controlled as always. And as always, she wore her gray Intel uniform without rank pips. But instead of the custom Rihannsu commbadge that Rita Paris had made especially for her, she wore a basic Starfleet commbadge. Considering that it was her loyalty to the ship that was in question after her month on a Tal’Shair controlled Warbird, there was no reason to give her interrogator any negative ideas out the proverbial gate.

Behind Mrs. Dox, the doors wooshed open and she turned around, assuming that her interrogator was early. Instead, in the doorway stood young Trill woman. The woman had a small, athletic build with fine spots and a pixie cut, and Jaeih looked her over quickly, observing every detail she could see. The woman wore an Artan comm badge over her left breast and the Federation Defense Attorney pin on her Artan collar. Her suit was the general design worn by many in the legal defense profession across the galaxy that Jaeih had seen MANY times over the years, but her collar was decidedly and clearly that of the Artan’s. Immediately, the elder Intel Operative was intrigued.

"Jolan'tru." Jaeih said plainly, a standard Rihannsu greeting. "I take it you are not the Federation representative sent to... debrief me?"

"Jolan'tru. Indeed not," Dana Nyn replied, a hint of a piratical grin showing as she handed an Artan datapad to the elder Dox woman. I'm your legal representative from the Atan Privateers. You're now an official citizen of the Artan Empire and a member of Baroness Mnhei'sahe Dox's crew. Backdated to right before the kidnapping for political and legal reasons, of course. As a citizen of another civilization, if you feel uncomfortable at any time over any question, you don't have to answer, ok?"

Glancing down at the PaDD, Jaeih raised an eyebrow at the young Trill woman as she spoke, "I understand, thank you. Well. En… pardon… Captain Telvan wastes no time. Nor does she do anything in half-measures, it seems. And this should hold up well considering the records of the tribunal will corroborate my place with my daughter's crew. Does the Captain anticipate that I will need you in these proceedings, Miss…?"

"Dana Nyn. Yes, unfortunately. Much pressure has already been placed on her by the admiralty for refusing to allow your debriefings to take place at Starfleet Command, however, the Queen was quite adamant that as a civilian of another faction, you had certain rights that she was determined to protect. As such, I too am here to ensure that those rights are protected both within the legal bounds of Federation law and Artan code."

"Well, I will say that I am glad to not have to go back there for this, Miss Nyn. I can imagine that they would like little more than the most basic of excuses to rescind the commutation of my sentence." Jaeih looked back at Nyn, folding her hands with the PaDD behind her back as she began to pace slightly. "Now, since I have you as a resource, I'm curious. While this is supposed to simply be a debriefing, have you any idea if there are to be any charges or allegations pressed against me in this?

Dana clasped her hands in front of her as she stepped up to one of the windows looking out across Jupiter Station. "I'm sure they'll hang on every word looking for anything that you did or said while in captivity that may be detrimental or harmful to the Federation in any way. However, if they want to commute any punishment of any sort, they'll have to process any such requests through the extradition agreements between the Federation and the Artan Privateers... Which are currently being rewritten. On top of which, as you have committed no crime by Artan law..." Here, Dana grinned once more towards Jaeih. "You are fully protected by Code, which also covers you by Federation amnesty law. The Queen has also expressed a great interest in you as an Artan asset and would be quite put off if the Federation demanded anything... untoward... of you."

Then the younger Trill woman became calm and spoke in a more calm and sedated tone. "She may not be anywhere near as ruthless as her mother, but after seeing her leverage her power like that yesterday, I was almost afraid they were going to demand she resign her commission for being too aggressive. After all, she's both the Queen of a privateer empire trying to claim and stabilize a very dangerous part of space and the Captain of one of the largest and most classified ships in Starfleet. That would be the definition of conflict of interests if she wasn't doing her best to maintain a close divestment of those two sides of herself."

"Then this should be as brief of a meeting as mine with Commander Paris. For all intents and purposes, I said nothing for the first two weeks. I talked only with my daughter and Senator t'Rul in the third week and was in hiding for the last week. Very little was said and they asked nothing of me, nor tried to interrogate me. Their interest was... and likely still is... in my daughter, which I'm sure you well know. Still, the Captain is putting herself out considerably for me in this affair."

Pausing for a moment, Jaeih turned with a more serious expression. "What of that? Will her efforts on mine and my daughter's behalf become problematic for her? CAN Starfleet come after her commission? This ship?"

"She has a few who seem to not be overly fond of her, but she has quite a few allies in Intel Command, Science Command, and Services Command that are keen on seeing her remain in her position." Dana nodded before turning to face Jaeih fully, looking up to her with a hint of mischief in her eyes. "The Artans supply more than Romulan Ale to the Federation, after all. We forward all scientific studies and reports, we share most of our intel we gather, and many materials that can't be replicated, we are able to obtain in abundance. Not to mention keeping the major shipping lanes clear and answering every distress signal we can in our area of responsibility. The intel we got from the late Queen's crew on the syndicate after the tribunal alone is likely enough to keep you, the Queen, and Baroness Dox in the clear for the rest of your lives."

Raising an eyebrow and allowing herself the hint of a smile for the benefit of Dana Nyn, Jaeih replied with just a hint of her own unique brand of friendly sarcasm she shared with only a select few. "Well then, let us not allow me to upturn that particular lehe'jhme cart by saying or doing anything foolish."
Then her tone shifted slightly as she pondered something, "I suspect that what I say may have less impact on me and more on my daughter and the Captain. Anyone with allies also has enemies and this may be a fact-finding expedition to collect ammunition against her as I think of it." Then her eyes narrowed slightly as her sensitive ears twitched slightly. "It's time."

As she spoke, the doors wooshed open and Petty Officer Liu, the Hera security officer who had fought at Jaeih's side during the tribunal, led a slightly portly, balding, middle-aged Starfleet representative in a crimson uniform with a lightly disgusted expression and a set of PaDD's under his arm. As the representative stepped into the room, Jaeih caught Liu shooting the man a glare as the door wooshed closed, giving the Rihannsu operative the slightest of smiles.  

Looking from Jaeih to Nyn, the dumpy human scowled. "Ladies. My name is Lieutenant Commander Carlton Corbin. I have been sent by Starfleet for this debriefing, so let's try and get this over with. Hello again, Miss. Nyn. Am I to take it by your presence that the Artan's will be flexing their muscles in these proceedings?"

Dana Nyn imperceptibly bristled at the comment and stood up straighter as she looked up into the taller man's eyes. "I'm only here to protect the rights of Artan citizenry. If you do not give a reason to, the Artans will have no need to... 'Flex our muscles' as you put it."

Letting out a contemptuous hrumph, Corbin laid his stack of PaDD's down and took a seat, gesturing for Jaeih and Dana to do the same on their side of the table. As they did, he looked at the first PaDD for a moment as everyone settled. And once ready, he wasted no time in cutting to the chase.

Looking down at his PaDD the entire time, Corbin began, speaking flatly. "Mrs. Dox, Starfleet intelligence has read and reviewed your written report, the reports of Lieutenant Dox and her... ongoing debriefings. We have reviewed Ensign Gonadie's report of the Enox VI incident, henceforth referred to as 'the abduction and we have watched the security footage of your debriefing with Commander Paris abord the extraction vessel. Incidentally, we have reviewed her report, along with that of Captain Telvan. That all said, I will not be asking you for a recitation of those events. Instead, we would like to focus on the specifics of the abduction."

Then he turned his eyes up towards the elder Rihannsu, "Specifically, your killing of three reported Romulan agents. You are not a Starfleet officer. You are not officially sanctioned to carry out such actions in any capacity as I see it looking at your status. You've no so-called 'license to kill', Mrs. Dox. Would you care to elaborate."

As if she had been prepared for this eventuality, Jaeih folded her hands and replied matter-of-factly. "My status on this ship is as an independent operative serving under the Intelligence department. My general duties involve, largely, cryptography and covert intelligence gathering. While I am not a Starfleet officer, I AM subject to the command structure of the ship, making every commissioned officer on this ship my superior."

Talking the slightest of breaths, she continued. "As an independent operative, I am empowered to act on behalf of those officers and in their defense when they are incapable of doing so. On Enox VI, I defended two superior officers to the best of my ability from an attacking force. As the attackers were Rihannsu Tal'Shiar agents and identified themselves as such to my satisfaction by evoking my former rank within that organization, their incursion into Trill space could be considered an act of war in violation of Neutral Zone treaty. Ergo, Casus belli,I believe, is the Latin term. They were in the process of committing an act of, and I quote, "an event that provokes or is used to justify war." I acted to prevent that. Under which, the killing of enemy combatants is legally justified."

Looking as though he barely listened, Corbin turned towards Nyn with a raised eyebrow. "Do the Artan's have anything to say in this matter, Miss Nyn?"

Without hesitation, Niss Nyn gave a seemingly prepared statement. "As the events of the abduction happened on a world under the protection of the Artans and all but abandoned by the Federation since the Dominion War and records show that all actions by my client were taken in the best interests of defense of herself and two Starfleet officers against a hostile and known threat, it is the official stance of the Artan governing body to fully support Mrs Dox. Furthermore, it is the stance of the Artan governing body that her actions mitigated the possibility of war not only with the Federation, but with the Artans as well and allowed the Artans to root out a Tal'Shiar spy that had found its way into the ranks."

"Mrs. Dox was in captivity when the so-called spy was rooted out, so let us not give her too much credit here, Miss Nyn." Corbin groaned slightly as he replied through half-lidded eyes looking at Nyn. "And I would like to see the documentation that claims this woman as an ARTAN citizen if you would be so kind."

Already prepared, Dana tapped her datapad on and slid it over to the unsavory Starfleet personnel officer. "As you can see, her paperwork for citizenship was processed the day prior to the abduction. She was to be officially notified of the completion of her request once she and her party had returned from their trip. As for the discovery of the spy, the abduction itself is what we attribute it to, not to Mrs. Dox herself. I recommend you review the full reports of the rescue... If you are cleared to do so."

Raising an eyebrow, Corbin chuckled mirthlessly, "I have FULL clearance, thank you very much. So... A whole day in advance. How... fortuitous. And convenient for you, Mrs. Dox. How many citizenships is this now? With the Romulan Empire, the Federation and now the Artans?"

"Just the two, Mr. Corbin. And one was put upon me as a Starfleet prisoner. However, my name was written and burned three times in the Rihannsu Senate. My house name was undone and my citizenship revoked. As for my Artan citizenship, that was formally declared at Captain Telvan's tribunal... five months ago when I joined under the Lieutenant. It's all in the paperwork, I trust, which I can only assume took a bit of time to finalize." Jaeih replied, backing up the claim and, by default, accepting the offer Nyn had made with a slight smirk cracking her cold facade. 

Pausing to look over the documentation, Corbin narrowed his gaze as he finished. "And there's still the matter of your so-called escape from custody that enabled you to contact the Hera covertly. How did you accomplish something our best communications analysts couldn't?"

"Nonsense." Jaeih replied dismissively, just to jab at the man a bit. "Your best communications analysts are on this ship. I work closely with the Captains Yeoman, Ila Dedjoy. I simply crafted a message I knew she would see the patterns in. Perhaps you should also review HER report so you have all the viable information, Mr. Corbin. You see, she and I discussed my research into code ciphers hidden in the rhyming meter of poetry over coffee after work. So, I masked my message in an encryption using rhyming schemes of the poetry of her people. Rihannsu wouldn't recognize the pattern, but a very, very smart Ilirian woman would and did. It's really quite simple."

"I believe Lieutenant Commander Sonak also filed a report to corroborate the validity of my techniques. He too is quite knowledgable in such areas." Jaeih smirked ever so slightly as Corbin bristled, then replied not to Jaeih but to her attorney. 

"And what is the position of the Artans in trusting information from a former Tal'Shair operative with clear ties to their government through her compromised daughter?" He barked slightly, trying to goad a reaction.

Without even blinking, Miss Nyn replied professionally and calmly. "If such a circumstance were to arise, it would be addressed in a swift and effective matter. As the Artan governing body uses methods of lie detection that even the Tal'Shiar are unable to evade, we have currently found no evidence of such a statement being true."

Listening, Jaeih watched Corbin out of the corner of her eye while pretending to look at her defender. His body language cues were suspicious and she decided to press back a little. While the attack on her daughter's integrity had angered her, she kept her calm facade firmly in place and replied. "I am a FORMER Tal'Shiar operative, Mr. Corbin. And a FORMER smuggler. And, if you will review your own records you will see that I was rather firmly punished by the Rihannsu government for betraying the Tal'Shiar in the defense of Rihannsu reunificationists on Fvuras VI. And I both served my time with Starfleet for my smuggling and have been quite invaluable in the sixteen years since serving as a cryptoanalyst and telling you everything that I know about cloaking technology, which is considerable. So, unless your intention is to prosecute me for crimes for which I have already been punished and released for, please let me know what it is you think I've done now?"

Flustered, Corbin scowled as he responded quickly. "I'll be blunt, Mrs. Dox. This ship exists beyond levels of top-secret and Intel Command has serious concerns regarding the presence of two Romulan's living and working on it. Admiral Forsyth requires certain assurances that the both of you can be trusted here under a Captain with more than her own fair share of conflicts of interest, and so far I remain UNCONVINCED!"

"So... nothing then. Good, does that mean we're finished?" Jaeih replied with a deadpan calm, disregarding his rant and focusing, instead, on the fact that he had not mentioned anything other than his own racially motivated speculation. 

"I'LL TELL YOU WHEN I'M FINISHED, MRS. DOX! Corbin shouted. From outside the door, Jaeih could hear Petty Officer Liu shuffling as she clearly heard it and was preparing to act if necessary. But then, Corbin took a breath and sat back. And after a moment, eyes darting between the two calm women, he let out the breath and continued.

"As of this time, Starfleet Intelligence is... satisfied. And your continued services as an independent operative aboard the Hera will be allowed to continue. How that proceeds, however, will depend on you." Corbin leaned forward ever so slightly. "Just know that we will be keeping  a very close eye on you and the Lieutenant moving forward."

But rather then reply to the bait, Jaeih sat back, and turned towards her Artan defense to make any final statements on her behalf. It was a silent head nod she presumed would be understood.

With a sickeningly sweet grin, Dana Nyn stood and came around the conference room table, for all the world, shepherding the Starfleet officer as if she were a herding dog and her were a sheep, talking in sickeningly sweet tones the whole way. "Thank you for your time. I believe you've taken up enough of my client's own valuable time and must ask that you now excuse us. If you have any further questions or complaints, please direct them to the Artan governing body's Federation Embassy in the Kabul system and we will address them in the order in which they are received."

Stepping over to the door to show Corbin out, the door wooshed open while the irate officer grabbed his PaDD's, eyeing Jaeih the whole time. While he did, Nyn gestured to Petty Officer Liu, who had been waiting just outside. "Miss Liu, was it? Do you mind terribly, escorting Mister Corbin away? Thank you again. I just want to express my sincerest and most heartfelt..."

As soon as the door closed, Dana's facade dropped and she turned back to Jaeih with a sigh of relief. "Honestly, that went better than I had hoped."

But Jaeih still watched the door, listening to hear when Corbin and Liu had left through the adjacent turbolift entrance, her face still flat and her eyes narrowed. "Indeed. But I suspect that was because it wasn't about ME. Or even Mnhei'sahe. That was about Captain Telvan, Miss Nyn." Turning to face the Artan attorney, Jaeih looked serious. "As I said earlier, those who have allies have enemies. And my daughter and I were perceived as possible weak spots in the Captain's defenses and I believe we were focused on here for that reason."

Dana crossed her arms, one hand coming up to tap her chin. "Yes, I believe you to be correct. Several of the fleet management seemed to be after her on her first and second day of questioning. I had to lay out the entire legal aftermath of the Tribunal and what we were doing with her divestment of interests once she left the Fortress. As for Admiral Meowlith, I have a theory that she was promoted in the hopes that she would be more amenable to viewing things the way the more conservative Admirals do, but it's only bolstered her confidence. Either way, though she will always be our Queen and Commander Paris will always be the Second of the Artans in many of our eyes now... We are indeed preparing for Elysius to take over fully as Acting Queen in a few months."

Dana glanced up at Jaeih, a look of consternation crossing her face. "Oh, I know, we're rebelling a little, with Magnus' daughter declaring herself only Acting Queen rather than full Queen like Queen Telvan declared. Everyone voted on it from top to bottom and after the stunt in the Tribunal Hall, I'm not surprised. We're not a full-on monarchy, after all."

"All the better, I believe, Miss Nyn." Jaeih said, relaxing her posture slightly. "Acting Queens show humility and deference. And votes are quite desirable and should go a long way towards mending bridges that Arenara so thoroughly burned. At least the Federation will be more comfortable, I'm sure. But we also now have something we didn't before. A name."

Jaeih smirked slightly. "This Corbin reports directly to an Admiral Forsyth. But of one thing, Corbin was right... I'm not Starfleet. I serve this ship for my daughter and for Enalia Telvan. And it is
those interests that concern me and those interests that I serve. Please make whoever needs to be aware, aware of what we learned here, if you would Miss Nyn. This Forsyth deserves a closer look, I suspect."

"I would agree, though as a simple defense attorney and legal advisor, I can only advise you to be careful and not do anything... Illegal..." Dana then glanced down at her chrono and gathered up her datapad. "That being said, I wish you good fortune in your endeavors. I must catch a shuttle in the next few minutes or risk being late for Baroness Dox's meeting with a Vulcan Ambassador about Reunification. As there are Artan interests in play that she's currently unaware of and only one Artan legal counsel has been allowed..."

"It has been an honor meeting you Mrs. Dox. I look forward to meeting you again." With a warm grin and a bow of her head, Dana gave her farewells.

"The honor is mine, Miss Nyn." Jaeih returned the bow and the smile before interjecting. "And, if you have the opportunity... My daughter is currently on communications blackout with the ship. I would be appreciative if you informed her that all is well here. I'm sure she is worried on top of her own concerns. Thank you, and Jolan'Tru."

Then, after another moment, Jaeih Dox found herself alone in the observation lounge. Outside the windows, Jupiter loomed largely. But standing there alone, she suddenly didn't feel so alone anymore. Enalia had advocated for her, claiming her as a citizen of her nascent government just to ensure she would be safe. The crew of the Hera had risked everything to save not just her daughter, but herself. She had family here. She had friends here. It was an almost uncomfortable concept, but in that moment she smiled and started to understand what that delta she was wearing on her chest really meant. Perhaps for the first time.

 

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