Sticking to What I Know

Posted on Tuesday, 12 May 2020 - 3:50pm by Commander DeVala Victrix Ph.D & Lieutenant T'Lanna Vali

Mission: Operation: Recall
Location: USS Fontana | Deck 01 | Conference Room
Timeline: MD 3

After the room cleared out Lieutenant Commander Victrix gestured to the replicator. "Grab yourself something, Lieutenant," she said as she nursed her own coffee and moved closer down the table to where Lieutenant Vali had been seated. "I do not about the rest of you, but I think Commander Soral and Lieutenant Kingsley might have something between them that needs some work," she said with the slightest of school girl giggle. It was not normal for a ship's Captain to be gossiping about their crew, but it was not a position Victrix ever saw herself in. "Hopefully, they can work things out" she added.

T’Lanna had headed over to the replicator to get herself a ginger tea, taking her seat again she smiled at Victrix. “I’m sure they will Commander.”

"I hope so," she said with a bit of bittersweetness in her tone. "I lost my fiance at a point in my life when we were not on the best of terms, but it was a stupid fight, one of our only fights, and it ended up being our last fight," she said giving more information about her life than she had the entire time she had been aboard. "I saw the two of them after Soral's attack. She was in his quarters wearing his shirt. I just do not like seeing people let small things stand in their way."

T’Lanna nodded. “They have a bigger hurdle to come yet and it’s only going to end in tears, but I can’t say anymore.” She offered a brief smile. “I was afraid that my being pregnant would scare off the man I’ve come to love. He’s taken it all in his stride and he’s promised to care for me..us.” Her smile practically shone.

"Oh Good," Victrix replied with a smile to match the Ship's Psychologist. "So, that's going well? You and Raith will be well together" she added, making it clear she was not completely in the dark.

“Am I that obvious when he’s around?” T’Lanna grinned. “He makes me feel safe, special and loved. Anyway I’m getting off track here aren’t I? There is a reason you wanted me to stay behind?”

"It's fine," Victrix said dismissively. "After that briefing, I could use some less stressful things to think about" she added. "I'm from Risa, T'Lanna. If anyone is getting intimate with anyone, I know. It's like my people have a sort of sixth sense about it" she explained somewhat jokingly. "Though you do glow around him."

“That’s because he makes me feel like I’m on cloud nine every time I’m around him.” T’Lanna blushed. “I’m going to need him when the time comes to have to leave my baby with whoever I have to leave him or her with.” Her smile faded. “I’m not looking forward to it, I’m not sure how much use I’ll be to you either.”

"You aren't very far along" Victrix said reassuringly. "You have plenty of time to sort all of it out, and I'll likely be long gone by the time your child is ready" added the Risan. "Now, I do expect to be contacted afterwards" she said with a smile.

“Of course!” T’Lanna smiled. “Can’t you stay on? It would be a shame to see you leave.”

Victrix nearly choked on her coffee, but recovered with a hard swallow. She looked at the woman perplexingly. "Honestly, I have not put thought into it. My assignment was simple: locate Stillwater and bring him back into Starfleet. Command would transfer to him, and I would go back to Earth and resume my civilian position."

“Would you take up a position onboard if you could?” T’Lanna looked at Victrix curiously. “It would be a shame to see you go. We’ve all gotten used to you being here onboard ship with us, you’re a part of our family now.”

She did think about it for a fleeting moment then dismissed it. "There's not anything here for me. I am not meant for this starship life style. I am a sturdy, reliable, and efficient office worker. I keep the PaDDs moving along. My aspirations were never the Captain's chair. It's to be in a conference with the President."

T’Lanna nodded. “Fair enough, so do you think my being an ex-b will help with the situation with Captain Stillwater? Would he respond to that the way I’m thinking he would?”

"I don't know if it will make a difference one way or the other, T'Lanna" Victrix said though she did not mean it dismissively. "Stillwater appears to be a man who valued people and he never came across as one who held outward prejudices. I believe he had an Ex-Borg on one of his commands. If anything, I think he would value this crew's diversity."

T’Lanna nodded. “I’m looking forward to meeting him, he sounds like a very good man. His records speak volumes. Although he may not be so easy to talk back into service.” She paused and sipped her tea which had now cooled down somewhat. “Starfleet have given us a tricky job to do.”

"We definitely have our work cut out for us" Victrix replied. She had something to discuss with the woman. "I have yet to find a suitable individual to take your place in Intelligence. I have put some thought into offering you the position of Chief Intelligence Officer, but I'm uncertain how you'd feel about that?"

T’Lanna looked at Victrix surprised. “It’s a very thoughtful offer but given my pregnancy and my other duties, I simply don’t think I’d be able to cope with being Chief of Intelligence. I’m a Psychologist and Counsellor at heart, that’s what I enjoy. Thank you but no.”

Victrix appreciated the honesty. "I sort of expected that reaction, but needed to get it out of the way before proceeding with the search to fill the position" explained Victrix. "Thank you for the honesty. You're doing a great job as Ship's Psychologist."

“Thank you” T’Lanna smiled warmly. “We have a wonderful crew, Ryan has already offered to help with my workload if I need it, and Soral has been a huge help with meditation and generally being there to talk to. I am finding that I’m tiring more easily than I used to so I’m planning to speak to Emerick as well.”

"You still have quite a bit of time" replied the Risan woman. "Keep seeing the Doctor regularly and feel free to consult the Emergency Medical Hologram. You will want to take a step back from your duties as the pregnancy moves along."

“I’m hoping to keep working as long as possible.” T’Lanna smiled. “I never was very good at the whole put your feet up and rest thing!” She grinned. “Guess I’ll have to learn.”

Victrix smiled. "Well, you fit in well here. I don't think this is a very kick your feet up starship. Commander Stillwater will likely agree with that statement as well. It seemed in his nature to always be on the go."

“Then we should get along nicely!” T’Lanna grinned. “Let’s hope our ideas on where he might be pan out.”

Lieutenant Commander DeVala Victrix nodded. "Ideally, narrowing down the search area with the algorithm will point us towards Stillwater's whereabouts. Even if we do not find him in the first round of searches, I am hoping to find someone who does know who he is and potentially where he may be. Alternatively, our searching may just smoke him out" explained Victrix. "I will be staying aboard the Fontana and keeping you aboard with me. We will act as a 'base of operations' for the shuttles and the runabout."

T’Lanna nodded. “Yes ma’am. It’s logical that I should be here in case we find out where Stillwater is. I’m just hoping my being an ex-b might gain us a little ground with him.”

Victrix was relieved to hear she had no objections. "I have been looking over some of the regions and planets. It is beginning to look as though we will be focusing our initial wave of searches in the triangle sector. There's a portion of the sector with several planets, some of them habitable. It's a coalition of planets called 'Bakers Dozen' under the authority of the Affiliation of Outer Free Worlds" Victrix stated. "I do not want to bring the Fontana into the Baker's Dozen. I feel it might spook the AFOW, but I think placing the Fontana outside of their space will be suitable."

“Would they be likely to put up any opposition? Would there be any risk to the away teams or the ship?” T’Lanna looked at Victrix curiously.

"Not outwardly," replied the Commanding Officer. "I am still waiting on a more concrete narrowed down list of planets, preferably M class of course," she said reassuringly. "Several of the planets looked more promising in line with the profile you were able to come up with for Stillwater. The AFOW as a whole do not appear hostile in any way. Though Federation, Klingon, and Romulan presence have not always been welcome in the sector, several worlds were colonized by artisans and exiles from these species among others" she went on to explain.

Victrix grabbed a PaDD which was communicating with the display screen mounted in the room. She pulled up a planet and directed the woman's attention. "Devotion," Victrix said. "That is the name for this planet in the Baker's Dozen. Well, one of the names it has. Another name in the Federation database was Covenant IX. The colonist there are predominately Human in origin, mostly from Earth...well their ancestors at least. They have a rich agricultural world but are of a religious sect. They dismiss 'sophisticated' technologies and Capitalism, choosing to live peacefully in communities. They are skilled craftsman and smiths from what we understand."

T’Lanna nodded. “Sounds interesting. We could stand a good chance finding Stillwater there, but I’d imagine a close-knit community would hide and even protect it’s own.”

"Agreed," Victrix said firmly. She knew all too well how close-knit communities operated. "Another peaceful planet we are considering is called Morning Garden" she said almost with a giggle at the name. Who named these places she pondered to herself. "Though it also has been charted as Reason's Beacon III."

T’Lanna nodded. “It’s a complete needle in a haystack isn’t it?” She shook her head and grinned. “I wish I could narrow it down but there just isn’t the information to do so.”

The Commanding Officer reached across the table and placed her hands atop of Vali's. "T'Lanna, we would not have gotten this far without you. As far as I'm concerned, you were an invaluable asset to this mission and my official reports will say no differently. We are where we are because of your hard work and determination. You profiling of the man has brought us to these haystacks, and I'm confident we will find our needle."

T’Lanna smiled warmly. “Thank you. I pride myself on getting my work done to the best of my ability.” She stifled a yawn. “Sorry! my energy levels aren’t brilliant lately.”

"Take some time to rest or at least relax" replied Victrix letting go of the woman's hands. "If Soral has you scheduled for duty today, I'll just let him know I'm giving you some additional time" she added. "I'll need you well-rested and at your best energy as we prepare to cross this region of space."

"I was planning to get some rest anyway." T'Lanna smiled warmly. "I need to learn to chill out and I have a few good books to read and catch up on."

Victrix nodded. "Dismissed, Lieutenant" she replied doing so properly though she was not one to necessarily care for proper protocol and such. "I'll keep you updated on any additional progress made."

“Thank you Victrix” T’Lanna smiled warmly as she stood to leave. “I’m going to miss not having you around to talk to.” She nodded politely and headed on her way.

Lieutenant Commander Victrix remained behind, sitting at the conference table and nursing her coffee. This is not going to be easy she thought in private to herself.

 

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