Is this a chewing out?

Posted on Thu Mar 9th, 2017 @ 7:14pm by Commander Mal Xustos & Captain Enalia Telvan

Mission: Cardassian Mayhem
Location: Conference Room 2
Timeline: Immediately after "Planning a Little Trip"

"Then this meeting is adjourned," Enalia declared. "Please spread the word that there will be a staff meeting at oh nine hundred tomorrow morning. Mister Engstrom the Infinite, I assume you know your way back to your quarters." Not looking up from her current pad, she waited while Clio and Alden filed out, then finally let herself relax and laid her head on the table with a sigh.

"Am I doing the right thing? Is this all worth it?" Enalia muttered. She then raised her head and looked at Mal, seemingly having aged several years in the span of that sigh. "Is all of this time travel and secretive shit worth our lives? Is there another way to do all this? Please tell me that we're not going to kill over a million people."

Mal went over and put his hand gently on Enalia's shoulder.

"I can offer no such promises," he said. "We shall have to...cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Yeah... That's true. Time will tell what happens more than what it already has." Enalia leaned back in her chair and recomposed herself. "Anyway, you wanted to discuss something."

"Yes," Mal said. He sat on the edge of the table near Enalia. "Your orders regarding Nexi...if you were serious, they are, in my opinion, highly inappropriate."

"The option is available by the regs. Make sure she's aware of it and that it's her choice." Enalia explained. "Seriously, Mal... You of all people should know that I can't order anyone to get naked other than for medical necessity for a sterilization chamber. I just wanted to see if temporal agent the infinite responded to it. He didn't."

Mal chuckled.

"Well," he said. "You successfully trolled me. In all seriousness, my concern was that as I understand things, Nexi was acquired by the Ferengi at a young age, given that she speaks and understands Ferengi better than Fed Standard. I don't think she was asked if she wanted to parade around naked for a bunch of lecherous Ferengi men and their guests and clients. I think she was forced to, and I can only imagine was some of those men might have done with a young, attractive, Human girl. To order her to do the test nude would only serve to re-victimize her. Perhaps I'm reading too much into this, but even the idea of ordering her to remove her clothing offended my sense of honor. So thank you for not insisting that I give that order."

Mal looked at Enalia a moment.

"I don't want to kill over a million people either," he said. "Or stand by while they are killed. That might be even worse. I don't envy you having to make that call, and, selfishly, I hope I don't have to make it. If we do have to launch those tri-cobalt devices, please try to back on the ship before we do. If I end up having to give the order, I'd rather not kill my friends in the bargain."

"Thank you for understanding. As for the explosives, we have a dozen on hand that match the blast records in the armory. Not torpedoes, but backpack sized demolition charges." Rummaging for the right PaDD, Enalia sighed. "Here it is... Please put all twelve on lockdown and check to make sure their trackers are active."

"Of course," Mal said. "I just remembered another officer aboard who might be useful on this mission. Ensign Shavni. She's Orion and therefore is another person who can fit in where you're going without surgery or heavy make-up."

"Excellent. Let's see if she can help with integration as well. I don't want anyone to stand out in any way." Enalia replied. "The chief flight controller... I don't think she could pass no matter what, but I want her and a shuttle prepared just in case."

"Of course," Mal said. "I'll have her on standby for emergency extraction. I'll also start looking around for a museum peice that she can use for the extract. If something goes wrong, we'll want to leave as little of our technology behind as possible. It can't be an Earth Starfleet shuttle, because why would one be out this far? I'll see if I can find something appropriate. I'll also see about using our replicators to create period weapons that, with a few modifications, will be powerful enough to be effective, without giving away any 24th Century technology should they be confiscated. The imminent demise of everyone you'll encounter gives you a little bit of leeway as far as lethal force is concerned, but, since we don't know what they are supposed to do before they die, even stunning them will cause changes in the timeline, unless your interactions have already happened, which we'll have no way of knowing. Subtlety will be key. You might want to beat that into Cato's head, and Nexi's, for that matter."

"I'm not worried about Nexi. Ask her about mayonnaise sometime. As for West... I'll personally make sure he's aware of the stakes." Enalia replied. As for a shuttle, check with the Ori-Kli Shipping and Trade Company. They have a ship graveyard that might have what we need. If not, I bet they know who does. I have a personal stockpile of latinum if they need something for it and their silence."

"Mayonnaise?" Mal said. "No, don't tell me. I have to work with her. The last thing I need stuck in my head is an image of Nexi covered in sandwich spread. I'll look into Ori-Kli and see what they have. Do not worry. If...when the time comes to make the decision about the Tri-Cobalt devices, if it is indeed us who uses them, I'll be with you, in spirit if not in body."

"Thank you," Enalia smiled up at her goatyman XO. "You know what? I'm looking forward to a nice long massage from my wife this evening. If you ever need a skilled masseuse, she has a small office just off our quarters."

"I just might at that," Mal said. "Will there be anything else, Captain?"

Enalia shook her head no. "No, I think that's it. Thank you."

"My pleasure, Captain," Mal replied.