Whom to Trust

Posted on Tue May 5th, 2015 @ 11:38pm by Commander Sinek & Commander Angelica Fairchild

Mission: The New Sydney Fiasco
Location: Sinek's Office
Timeline: Day after Angel is questioned

The Temporal Investigations team hadn't really pushed her that hard, but Angel couldn't help feeling concerned over the things they had uncovered and addressed. Someone else on the ship had been working for Section 31, and she couldn't think of who it was... or who she could talk to about it. No one on the Hera knew that she'd worked for those people. She'd only just started to earn some trust and friendship among the crew. How could she possibly admit to it now?

She knew of only one person who was unlikely to judge her for it, and that was Sinek. Still, she worried that it would damage their budding relationship if she came clean now. She knew Vulcans to be endlessly loyal to their chosen mates, but they viewed deception as a terrible act, especially between friends. Granted she hadn't lied since she hadn't been asked, but she'd never mentioned it either.
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Eventually, her need to express those concerns won out over the fear that Sinek would somehow take offense to her admission, and she went to find him in the science labs.

Lieutenant Commander Sinek was keeping himself busy, as usual. He was certain the Temporal Investigations Team may have questions for the Science Department, so he instructed his team to review the sensor logs and report any findings. He himself, re-reviewed all the logs to ensure that nothing was missed.

He knew Angel had entered before he could actually look up from the files. He had grown used to hearing the way she walked. Still, in public, Sinek kept the formality of titles. She was, after all, the Executive Officer. The crew needed to see the respect he had for her rank. They most likely may not know his respect for her lay deeper than her office. Without looking up, he stated evenly, "Good morning Commander. How may I be of service?"

"It's not official business... I just need to talk to you. Are you busy?" Angel didn't want to interrupt anything he might be doing.

"There is still time for this," Sinek responded. He nodded toward his office. "We can go in there; there is more privacy."

Even if he were busy, Sinek would make time for her. He was able to work longer duty shifts to make up for any time lost. As long as he was able to balance the time for the relationships he had established. Hers being the most important.

He arose from his seat and lead Angel to the office. Once inside, he turned into her and held her in his arms momentarily. Judging from her eyes, she needed some moral support. It seemed something was eating at her thought process - maybe not on the level as high anxiety, but more on a worrisome note.

"I don't like having these temporal investigation people on board," Angel said quietly after a long quiet moment. Sinek's embrace grounded her, easing some of her concern that he might not like what she had to say. "They're digging deep, and they know things about me that I don't want them knowing."

Sinek stepped back and looked Angel in those steel gray eyes. He became concerned for her, wondering why the investigators be prying. Other than the phasers generating the triolic waves necessary for the Devidians, what would Angel's past have to do with anything? Were they trying to point the finger at Angel to divert attention from someone else?

"That is understandable," Sinek replied. "We are all entitled to privacy when and where we want it."

The evening he and Angel had mated, Sinek opened his mind to her. He allowed her to know whatever she wanted about him. However, he did not explore her mind. Doing so without consent was unethical to any Vulcan.

"I don't think they agree. And I want to know where the hell they even got the information because it wasn't anything I've told anyone." Angel sighed a bit, shaking her head. "Now I have this terrible feeling that since they know, other people are going to find out. I already don't have very many friends here..."

"Angel," Sinek replied evenly, "the past is past. You are who you are at this moment. You will not please all of the crew. You may not have even liked me on my previous ships."

"I find that hard to believe." Angel gave him half a smile, though she knew he likely wasn't exaggerating. It simply wasn't something Vulcans did. "I never passed them any information about the Hera, but I used to work for the Section 31 information office. Most people don't like knowing that."

"But you are here now," Sinek acknowledged. "Most people cannot accept that people change. You made a logical choice to change. I surmise Section 31 is not happy. Perhaps they, themselves, leaked information."

"I think they did, but more than that. I think there's someone else on the crew who works for them." Relieved that Sinek apparently didn't care that she'd had ties to Section 31, Angel quickly became more animated and less worried. "Someone had to be here to send a signal to Section 31 that we were in position for this mess... it's all their doing." Perhaps she wasn't supposed to tell him that, but the truth was out now. "And it wasn't me because I was to busy with the Devidians and the Klingon ship!"

"We must let the Captain know," Sinek explained, "and anyone else we can definitely trust to help us find this individual." Outside of Angel, that meant the Doctor. They grew closer to Sinek than any other crew. Those were the two he trusted.

"Only problem with that is I don't know who the spy is. We could end up telling them we know, and then they'll disappear." Angel didn't like thinking that Enalia or Ethan might be the spy, but with no information to clear them fully she had to consider it.

Sinek raised a brow. "The Captain was there on the bridge with us." For the Captain to be involved, she would have to be the best he had ever seen at deception. And Sinek had seen the best. The old adage was "Vulcans never lie." But the could be deceptive. Most were so good at it, no one assumed they were doing so.

"Have you checked all transmissions from just before we entered the anamoly until we returned?" He flatly asked.

Angel shook her head. "Haven't had a reason yet, but I'm going to now."

"That would be a logical start," Sinek admitted. "Would you care for some assistance?"

"If you don't mind. A second pair of eyes never hurts when I'm looking at this sort of thing." The truth was Angel wasn't great at handling most of the more technological aspects of the ship's systems. She'd answered incoming hails and sent plenty of messages and greetings, but poking around in the logs usually ran her into trouble unless it was a security tape.

"Indeed," Sinek offered. "When do we start?"

"Now, if you're available. I'm going to start now regardless, and you can meet me later if you have departmental duties to tend to."

"My staff have things well in hand," Sinek answered. "You go on ahead, I'll wrap up a few things and be right with you. My staff could probably use another break from me. Where would you like for me to meet you? Your office?"

"My office will be perfect." Angel kissed his cheek. "Thanks for helping. I'll meet you there."

Sinek returned Angel's kiss and watched her leave his office. He found it incredibly hard to believe they could trust no one, not even the Captain. Hopefully they would find the investigators were wrong and none of the crew was responsible.