And now the sisters

Posted on Sun May 10th, 2015 @ 2:28am by Alden Engstrom XIII & Aewia Larani & Staff Warrant Officer Nexi & Stephen Jenkins

Mission: The New Sydney Fiasco
Location: Conference Room 3
Timeline: After arrival at New Sydney but before the Memorial

Agent Alden Engstrom the thirteenth looked up from his PaDD to his fellow TI agent, Stephen Jenkins. They'd interviewed several crewmembers so far but it seemed only the Captain and XO had had any useful information for them. They had to keep looking though, and that meant both Nexi and Aewia at the same time to see if Aewia had any useful information, then Nexi alone if she didn't want her sister there for the rest of the interview. "Computer, please inform Civilian Nexi and Agent Larani their presence is requested by Temporal Investigations."

Nexi had been waiting for the call. Most everyone seemed to be getting interviewed by these temporal-whatsit guys and figured it was her turn. Well, maybe not her turn, they probably wanted to speak to Aewia since she had been an actual officer, and Nexi just had to be there as Aewia's caretaker. Whatever the reason, they had been summoned, so Nexi got Aewia ready and guided her to the conference room where they were to be interviewed.

Aewia was in a slightly grumpy mood. She knew that anything investigations would be wordy and overblown and she just didn't want to deal with it at all. On the bright side, she was wearing a reasonable outfit. a somehow matching high collared blouse and pleated empire waist skirt - both in a somewhat subdued navy blue.

As they entered, Alden, at the head of the table, motioned to the chairs across the table from him. "Thank you for joining us, ladies. Please have a seat. Or visit the replicator..." he trailed off as Aewia headed straight to the replicator rather than being seated. Not selecting anything, she scrolled through the menus, all but ignoring the agent.

Nexi took a seat, making no attempts get Aewia seated. "Well, you called and all," Nexi said with a shrug. "So what's this about?"

Throwing a brief glance to Jenkins, Engstrom set his PaDD down and looked Nexi over. "We don't have a report from either of you on the events that occurred during your... sojourn... into the past. In your own words, could both of you please relate to us what happened? To the best of your ability."

Aewia finished cycling through the menus, punching up a small plate of ice cream cake - a neapolitan heart shaped number with 2 spoons and a pair of cherries on the side. Taking the plate, she sat down with Nexi and set the plate between them.

Without missing a beat, Nexi picked up a spoon and fed the first bite to Aewia before taking a bite of her own. "Well, we didn't really have much to do with what was going on," Nexi said around a mouthful of ice cream, then swallowed. "Aewia's retired, brain damage, and I'm a civvie, so there weren't no need for us with all the action going on. We were in our quarters. I was helping Aewia with her reading and then it was like there were these lights, but no light source. And then we saw these ghost like things moving through the room. We stayed still and they ignored us, but then we could feel them sucking the life outta the crew. When the lights and the things were gone, I took Aewia to Sickbay where she'd be safe, then went to the bridge to try to get some answers."

Having so far simply observed quietly, Stephen nodded slightly as he tapped in a few notes about Nexi's answer. "That sounds rather traumatizing for someone who's been through the things your sister has endured."

"Yes... Though being a highly trained Intelligence officer might... counter... some of that... Trauma..." Alden said slowly as he watched the two seemingly happily eating their ice cream cake.

Aewia nodded seriously as she spooned some of the cake into Nexi's mouth too. "The ghosts of light and shadow were on the ship but they ignored us. They use tree-holic waves and make everything glow blue." Aewia was definitely not at her best, her mind not quite sharp enough to fully process the memories about what had happened.

"Alden, I don't think her training prepared her for what happened," Stephen pointed out calmly, taking note of Aewia's noticeably damaged state. "Regardless, no one is ever ready to see their first Devidian up close, let alone feel it when one of them sucks the soul out of someone nearby."

"Her training is gone, along with most of her ability to retain new memories," Nexi pointed out. "But she did really good, she remained calm even though she was scared, didn't do anything to attract their attention. And she was helpful in Sickbay afterwards," Nexi said, giving Aewia an affectionate pat on the head. "I'm the one that felt useless. Gimme something to fight and I'm good to go, but there weren't nothing I could do against the Devidians."

"That's good to know." Alden said as he set his PaDD down. He didn't foresee needing to take notes during this interview. "Did either of you have any contact with any Starfleet agents not aboard this ship immediately prior to the temporal incursion?"

"No," Nexi answered honestly. She had been on the Raptor, killing the crew for their interference and abduction of Enalia and Ethan, but they weren't Starfleet. And she had killed DaiMon Marg for Rhett. Heh heh, good times... "My contact with the crew is fairly limited, much of my focus is on caring for Aewia. We had contact with the doctor and the nurses, minor interactions with the crew... But I think they've all been with the Hera for a while."

"And what about agents within the crew? Not just Starfleet, but other organizations." With Nexi being a civilian, Stephen didn't know if she knew about Section 31 or not. He had no plans to reveal the agency's name unless either Nexi or Aewia answered in the affirmative.

"Yeah, see I've got this buddy, I think he's an uncover agent for the Tal Shiar, and we went on a joyride in my ship then had a threesome with an agent of the Order of 12," Nexi said sarcastically with a dramatic roll of her eyes. "If you're so worried who we talk to, I can make you a list."

"I don't believe that to be necessary." Alden said, picking his PaDD back up and clicking over to a list of names before sliding it over towards the two women. On it were listed known associates of Section 31, including the current ship's XO. "Were any of them on this list?"

Nexi looked at the list, then slid the PaDD back over to Alden. "Yes," she said simply.

Alden stared at her for a moment, realizing she wasn't going to be very forthcoming with answers. Speaking slowly, he amended his question, punctuating each syllable almost painfully. "Of the people on this list... Whom... have you had... contact... with..."

"I knew Demitri Valze a while back. He's on your list." Aewia blurted out, having only caught a brief glance at the list. Picking up one of the cherries, she poked it into Nexi's mouth.

Nexi grinned, chewing the cherry as she looked at Alden thoughtfully. "Well, if you wanted to know who, you should have asked that the first time around," she said with a teasing smirk. "Angel Fairchild, but then again you knew that already, didn't you..." Nexi and Angel had been on a mission together, it likely would have been relevant to the investigation so the agents should have been briefed on that. "Why do I get the feeling you're trying to pin the blame on her?" she asked as she swiped her finger through the whipped cream atop the melting ice cream cake, dabbing it on the end of Aewia's nose then licking the rest off her finger.

"Anyone else?" Stephen asked mildly, not bothered by Nexi's attitude.

"The Vulcan, T'Pel, is the ship's chef, but I've never interacted with her beyond getting food. She makes a mean Plomeek soup." Nexi considered one more name she'd seen on the list. "And I've heard of Drake, never met him or had dealing with him, but word is he gets around."

"Yes, she makes a wonderful pot roast too, from what we hear." Alden said, collecting the PaDD and setting it back in front of him. "As for your ship's XO, she's been quite helpful so there should be no need to worry about her," he said as he glanced at Aewia still trying to lick the whipped cream off of her nose.

"And redbat stew. Odd for a Vulcan chef." Stephen cast an amused glance at Aewia's efforts to get the whipped cream off her nose, picking up a napkin and offering it to her.

"Well, if we're done here, I gotta get Aewia to her therapy session," Nexi said, taking the remains of the ice cream cake back to the replicator. "But if you're insistent on discussing the chef's choice of cuisine, I can always come back," she added mockingly.

"I think we're finished," Stephen replied evenly before Alden could say anything. "We'll let you know if we have any further questions for either of you."

Nexi nodded. "Alright, c'mon kiddo, time to go play with the doctor," she said, helping Aewia clean the whipped cream off her nose.