Secret Mission To Where?

Posted on Tue Nov 19th, 2019 @ 8:12pm by Rear Admiral Farenia Meowlith & Captain Enalia Telvan & Arrain (Lieutenant) Pajom tr’Sahe & Commander Rita Paris & Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox
Edited on on Sat Nov 30th, 2019 @ 2:42pm

Mission: Neutral Zone Neutrality
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: 2396

The USS Hera had a new mission already and Captain Enalia Telvan sighed softly as she shook her head and punched up the request for Commander Paris and Lieutenant Dox to join her immediately in her ready room for the briefing she was currently involved in with Admiral Meowlith. She thought the rescue plan they had concocted was insane enough, but now Starfleet was concocting something for them that was even more insane.

"You realize that they're likely both going to object, right?" Enalia asked the holographic woman sitting on her couch.

"Command has no doubt that they will," replied Farenia with a grin as she sipped at a bottle of root beer. "Am I to assume you'll be filing objections as well?"

"Will you actually file them, or will they be conveniently lost on someone's desk for the next hundred years?" Enalia scoffed as she reviewed the computer readouts of the mission details.

At that accusation, Farenia looked genuinely hurt. "Hey now, I've been doing a lot better. I'll have you know I have people to file paperwork for me now."

"I'm sure you do," Enalia muttered softly.

----------

Coming from her office on Deck 4, Lieutenant Mnhei'sahe Dox made her way quickly, PaDD in her hands which were folded behind her back, to the nearest turbolift. After a brief wait, the doors wooshed open and already inside was Commander Rita Paris, also with a PaDD in hand as she always seemed to have.

Stepping inside, Dox gave a professional but sincere smile to her friend and Commander and nodded as she spoke up to the ceiling. "Bridge, Please."

As the lift doors closed and the lift resumed, Dox nodded to Paris with a comfortable but slightly anxious smile. An affectation she usually had when being called to speak to with either Rita herself or the Captain. However, it was much more contained than it used to be and she didn't seem overtly more nervous than not. "Good Morning, Commander."

“Good morning, Lieutenant. Good to be back on the job again, I hope?” Paris offered. Given that it had been over a month and a half since Dox had been on duty onboard the Hera, the full-figured first officer suspected this was just what the chief flight control officer needed- to be called upon for a mission briefing, and to get back to business as usual.

Which, on the Hera, always tended toward the unusual.

"Beyond good, Commander. Thank you." The red-headed Rihannsu pilot replied sincerely. She didn't quite break protocol as ranks were still being used, but she did have a slightly larger than not smile on her face that got just a hair broader as the brief turbolift ride ended and the doors wooshed open to the port side of the bridge. 

To their right, the bridge was the usual bustle of activity as the two women crossed the small gap over to the doors to the Captain's ready room, and entered after the prerequisites and formalities of door chimes and permission to enter had been managed. Stepping into the chamber, the shorter Lieutenant came in just behind her confident Commander, only to notice the holographic projection of someone she had read the files enough times to know by sight. But the presence of the Rear Admiral was unusual enough to put just a bit of concern in the young officer's stomach, though it was not evident on her face.

“Admiral, congratulations are in order for the promotion I hear, although I always liked the ‘Commodore’ title myself… a bit of old nautical terminology in our modern organization,” Paris offered with a smile to the holographic ‘Vulcan’ on the couch. “Captain Telvan… given that we’re all here, this must have something to do with the Romulans, and of course, trouble?”

As Meowlith nodded in appreciation, Enalia chuckled softly as she motioned to the two chairs across from her. "Astutely observant as usual, I see. Though I think I'd rather describe it as 'troublesome' rather than 'trouble'. Let's have some tea and Admiral Meowlith and I will go over the details. Maica made a lovely Darjeeling for me today while I fed Moira."

Pulling out three teacups (which looked unusually plain for the captain's collection) and a thermos of the hot tea, Enalia poured each of them a cup and sighed softly as she took a moment to enjoy the aroma of her own cuppa.

Farenia took this time to speak up in her place, not content to wait for Enalia to finish. "Troublesome is right. You've been secretly invited to cross the neutral zone. You as in the USS Hera specifically, by Senator Verelan t'Rul. The message was delivered by a man named Pajom tr'Sahe, an Arrain... or AnteCenturion... in t'Rul's service." As she spoke, Enalia tapped her desk console to display a holographic image of the man in question.

Putting her cup of tea down on the Captain's desk in front of her, Dox's eyes went wide and she interjected. Two weeks of being grilled by hostile Admirals had weaned her of any overt anxiety of speaking due to Farenia Meowlith's rank. "I know him. Well, not all that personally, but... he was one of the guards on the Warbird, the People's Will. He was the one that remained loyal to my... the Senator. He was trying to protect me without giving himself away as much as possible. Mostly it amounted to feeding me a little extra or keeping me hydrated, really. On her orders, he was feeding us the nano transporter tags that my Mother used to escape her cell and he helped her set that up."

“Wheels within wheels,” Paris observed, eyes narrowing slightly. “To what end, Admiral? What’s our mission in the sector of space where if we’re caught we’ll start a war?” While they had just returned from such a mission, that had been in an independent starship which had borne the disguised officers to Romulus itself, bringing the United Federation of Planets starship USS Hera across the Neutral Zone, even by invitation, would be interpreted as an act of war by the Romulans. So Paris was understandably curious to know the reason for such a mission.

"Apparently the senate took a vote and barely passed legislation making several reunification colonies protected and, when permitted by the senate, able to be visited by delegations from Vulcan directly," Farenia explained before finishing off her root beer.

"And since we have two delegates of reunification aboard, one named as a representative of the senator herself, we were requested by Senator t'Rul specifically to visit..." Enalia added to the explanation, but had to pause as she looked up the name of the colony. "The Mol Krun'chi colony to open these negotiations and test the waters. We've been asked to maintain our stealth plating during our visit, however."

Farenia picked up the next details with a sour note in her voice. "Yes, it seems that your old friend, Riov Rendal, has made an enemy of the senate and is now considered to be a wanted fugitive. Supposedly. Either way, once you meet the guide ship and are led to the colony, you must make sure its location is not discovered."

“Aaaaand there it is,” Paris rolled her eyes and crossed her legs. “Rendal will be following the guide ship, so we won’t ever really have a chance to be unobserved. So I propose we exercise some chicanery- how about if we have the Hera follow the guide ship to somewhere OTHER than the actual colony, and we instead take a runabout to bring the delegation in to meet with the colony?” For a straightforward and honest woman, Paris seldom had trouble thinking deviously. After all, she’d been raised by one of the sneakiest officer in Starfleet in his day, and while she hated to admit it, the lessons of Clifford Paris proved providential, particularly when paranoia paid off.

"Not a bad idea..." Enalia mused over the idea for a moment, wondering if the Selune was enough. "We have a stealth runabout, but if the Hera is in any way detectable, so would the Selune. If only we had a cloaking device..."

Farenia almost choked on her root beer as she opened a fresh bottle and took a swig of it. "Oh no... You're not using... No, we've had this discussion already. If the other admirals found out that you used a cloak on a Federation ship without authorization, you, me, your entire crew... We'll all be on the next ship to a penal colony."

Not quite being sure if it was her place as the lowest ranking woman in the room to say anything, Dox muscled through her self doubt and interjected again. "Pardon me Admiral, but I may have a solution." Turning back towards Enalia, Dox continued, "Rendal's sensors would pick up the Selune. As I stated in my reports, she mentioned she is aware of our stealth shielding. However, as an independent government onto itself, an Artan ship isn't subject to the Treaty of Algeron. And... well... The Golden Ghost has a state of the art, fully legal cloak. And she has been put at my disposal for something exactly like this."

"We can't risk the safety of those colonists. Riov Rendal wouldn't hesitate to wipe them out if she knew where they were," Dox added with a deathly serious tone, knowing full well that wiping them out was exactly what Rendal was to do in the now altered timeline, had Dox herself not been rescued.

"Okay... While I agree the safety of the colonists is paramount, bringing intergalactic politics like that into it is a bit beyond the scope of my authority," the Admiral intoned, her voice taking on a more serious note. "However you get the delegation to the colony is up to you. If you get some dirt on this Rendal woman, awesome. If you take her out of the holo completely, even better. However, the priority must remain the safety and security of those colonists as well as being able to safely conduct the diplomatic mission at hand."

"I propose we divide and conquer," Paris uncrossed her legs and stood, pacing slowly as she formulated a plan. "Lieutenant Commander Sonak, Lieutenant Dox, Myself and Az'Prel will take the Ghost to meet with the colonists and perform the diplomatic mission... how about the Ghost's captain act as the Artan ambassador in this, so that we can continue to build relations between the freebooters and the reunificationists, as well as the Federation and the Romulans."

"Meanwhile, the Captain and the guide ship can lead Rendal into a trap... somewhere that her cloak won't do her any good, so the fight will be on a bit more equal terms. Still, we'll need Mrs. Dox on the bridge, because I'm not comfortable with Rendal being patient enough to wait out the trap, so we'll need a cloaking expert on hand to advise the Captain." Pivoting, Paris continued walking slowly, putting it together as she slowly paced. "So we'll need a locale and a plan once we get there, as well as a contingency plan assuming Rendal jumps the gun, or if she figures out she's being set up. Petty Officer S'Rina is my best on the tactical station, unsurprisingly, and who've you got to recommend for the helm in your absence, Lieutenant? I can't say I am entirely comfortable putting Ensign Gonadie on the bridge in a combat scenario this late in her pregnancy..."

Enalia nodded as Rita spoke, making notes and furrowing her brow. She may have been a tactical genius when it came to combat and warfare, but in this regard she needed someone like Rita that was all about Federation style planning and all around safety. In fact, since the Commander had taken over as First Officer, the loss of crew to untimely deaths had dropped off significantly and she intended to keep it that way.

Then she had an idea. Enalia may not know where the colony was, but she knew where the rendezvous was, and there was a nebula nearby. "The Aldeberan nebula is near the rendezvous point. The gasses should render cloaks nearly useless, but our stealth plating should be minimally impacted thanks to the sensor scattering effect. It's also flagged as a very young proto-star so background radiation will be high."

"That should be perfect, actually. My... Agent Dox and I have used the Aldeberan nebula as both a hiding space and a way to force pursuing ships to reveal themselves. She knows that location very well, Captain." Dox replied confidently, referencing her years as a smuggler in the Neutral Zone with he mother, that she still had difficulty not simply calling 'mother' in official meetings.

Turning towards Rita, Dox nodded thoughtfully. "I agree concerning Ensign Gonadie, Commander, and have been making plans for this exact eventuality as regulations would only allow her to serve at the helm for three more months as is." Dox continued, turning slightly nervous at her next suggestion. "Now, I know she lacks a certain degree of... polish... but I have been working with Ensign O'Dell on bridge combat simulations and she's responding excellently. She's quick, adaptive and imaginative at the helm. She needs a little more confidence, but her performance during the tribunal proved that she won't choke in a real crisis. And I believe she will gel well with the Captain's command style."

"The tiny test pilot, the redhead?" Paris held her hand up around nipple height, which was in actuality still a bit taller than the R&D leprechaun. Rita's bright blue eyes cut over to the Captain, who shrugged noncommittally. "If you think she's the one for the job, get her a booster chair and put her on the bridge. You know your people and we trust your judgment. Speaking of which, given the circumstances... Captain?"

"Speaking of boost..." Enalia was grinning as she pulled a small black box out of her desk and slid it across the desk to Dox. "It took some convincing in the Admiralty, but those of us in this room all agree that you deserve a boost to your rank. Congratulations, Lieutenant Commander Dox. I think if there were any lingering doubts, you erased them here just now in this meeting."

Looking at the small box for a moment, Dox slowly opened it to look at the tiny black pip inside with a mix of shock, surprise, pride, excitement. and anxiety, all vying for control. But a month on a Romulan Warbird learning how to contain her emotions while dealing with the aforementioned Riov Rendal gave the sensitive young officer a much greater ability to control what emotions she chose to show. So the more emotionally controlled young woman nodded silently as she collected her thoughts, not hiding her pride but containing her excitement appropriately.

It took only a couple of seconds before she replied, but in those quick seconds so much had rushed through Dox's head. In such a short period of time, she had been presented with so many changes. So many opportunities and potential directions, each a responsibility to add to the burdens already upon her. And in her heart, she knew that this wasn't really any different. It was a new level of responsibility and she knew it. But this was a responsibility she had been actively working towards. This was an achievement, not a burden. This was the path of the career she had chosen to embrace over and over in the face of those that would have stripped it from her given the opportunity.

Picking the pip up, and looking at it, she looked back up at her Captain and friend and smiled just a bit. "Thank you, Captain. Commander. Admiral. I will endeavor to honor this decision."

"Well, that certainly was anticlimactic," Paris chuckled. "I think I actually shrieked the first time I made Lieutenant Commander. But, to each their own, I guess. We're proud of you, Miss Dox. You're an exemplary officer and you're coming into your own, and you've both earned this and deserve it. So you 'endeavor to honor' all you like, but this is a promotion you have proven you deserve, so try to enjoy it. Try not to think of it as a burden, and instead see it as recognition of your devotion to duty, bravery in the face of adversity and your progress on the command track. This is just us recognizing that formally- that's what rank advancement truly means, both to us and Starfleet."

Looking over to Rita, Mnhei'sahe sunk a little in the seat realizing she was doing it again. The same thing she did with Gavarus and O'Dell in Ten-Forward. The same thing she had been doing in her meetings with the Admarity at Starfleet Command for two weeks. She was locking herself down when she didn't have to, like she was still being interrogated by the Tal'Shiar. "Sorry, Commander. I'm thrilled. I'm terrified and excited and shocked and excited. I'm just... well, I've never met the Admiral before today and I'm..."

Taking a breath, Dox continued, trusting that even with the unknown factor of Admiral Meowlith, she was among friends. As she spoke, that familiar, nervous smile cracked out as she spoke to the woman she considered a sister. "I'm overwhelmed. I mean, I'm one of the two delegates in question who's going to have to make diplomatic overtures to Rihannsu reunificationists. I'm suddenly on this much bigger stage than I ever intended or imagined possible. One of the Admirals I met during my debriefing gave me... well... something you'll have to see to believe, and I'll show you all later. It's a lot to take in, and I'm doing my best not to let my emotions get the better of me here. But... I admit that I really want to let them, because..."

Holding up the pip in her hand, she blushed a slightly deeper shade of green, "...this is amazing. It really is. And I want to put it right on and leap up and down, but I'm doing my best to maintain a professional demeanor, which I'm now failing at epically. And I'm also terrified that I'll try to put it on and I'll drop it and it will roll under the Captain's desk and I'll look like an idiot with my butt in the air trying to find it. So... yeah... all that."

"Some are born to greatness, some have it thrust upon them, Miss Dox," the comely commander smiled, a frank and understanding expression. "We do not choose the times in which we live, nor the events which will shape our lives. It is the mark of character how we choose to shoulder those burdens, and work to leave the universe a better place for our passing. You are doing just fine, Mnhei'sahe. This is our way of expressing that, and instilling in you the confidence that you will continue to do so, and more."

"If I may?" Farenia asked, standing and setting her bottle of root beer outside the range of her holographic sensors. She then maneuvered over to Dox and carefully took the small black pip, pinning it in place herself. "I know Enalia isn't much for ceremonies so now you can say you've had rank pinned on holographically. And since it seems it's sharing time..." She rested one hand on Dox's shoulder reassuringly with a soft smile. "When I made Lieutenant Commander, I thought I was going to jump out of my skin, i was so on fire. I drank so much Vulcan firewine on Starbase thirty-one that night that all I remember is three very impressed Gorn and a Trill that will never forget that night."

"I took command of the Hera with my promotion to Lieutenant Commander, but... I was always an overachiever." Enalia lightly scratched at the spots on her temple suspiciously. "Either way, we have faith in you and you've earned this in more ways than you can imagine and we know that you'll more than live up to our expectations." With a nod from Farenia, Enalia pressed on. "Now... if you could talk your wife to accepting a promotion as well... Command also has some expectations out of her."

"And… I'll see what I can do regarding Ensign Gonadie." The smile turning into a slight smirk as she continued. "I do have a little pull there, after all."