The Profiler Arrives

Posted on Saturday, 28 March 2020 - 11:12am by Commander DeVala Victrix Ph.D & Commander Soral & Lieutenant T'Lanna Vali

Mission: Operation: Overdrive
Location: USS Fontana | Deck 01 | Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: 2393

ON:

The new Ship's Psychologist was on her way in. Soral had reviewed her file completely and was impressed by her education. It was new to him to have a psychologist on ship rather then Counselor but it would be interesting. He rang the chime of the CO's ready room and waited to be let in.

A few moments of waiting never killed a Vulcan. Lieutenant Commander DeVala Victrix was fixing her hair when the door chime alerted her to a visitor. She just knew it had to be Soral. She quickly put the finishing touches on her hair, checked the makeup in the mirror and headed over to her desk where she activated the display. She triggered the doorway to open and allow her guest in. "Hope that I did not keep you waiting long" she said the Vulcan. "Be a dear and grab me a coffee from the replicator, please" she politely instructed.

He raised an eyebrow but did as she asked. He walked up to her and handed her the coffee about to speak.

Victrix held up an index finger as she was handed her coffee as requested. Soral's mouth was ajar. She knew he was going to say something, but she cut him off with the hand gesture. "This is work related" she quipped. "Not until I've had a few sips of this" she added, taking several small sips and then sat the mug on her desk. "This is about a personnel matter? Please don't tell me Chief Eyelaya has anything to do with it" she added.

"Actually yes, a personal matter, and no not the chief. Are crew permitted to bring pets?"

Victrix was amused. This was a personal request about a pet...from Soral. She smirked. "Is your rock or cactus house broken?" she inquired.

He raised an eyebrow, "Commander your assumption is highly illogical." He handed her a PaDD "I have... been picked by a Lemon Beagle." The PaDD contained the dog's image and medical work up by the doctor.

"Aww" she said looking at the PaDD and looked back at Soral. "When this ship gets a full compliment we will have approximately one hundred people aboard, the majority of them will be enlisted. We may not have much room, but I am sure that we can fit a cute little beagle aboard, and I'll make sure to officially approve it. I don't know the sort of man Barret Stillwater was or is, but just in case he's not a dog person...I'll make sure there's some terms and conditions to becoming Commanding Officer, and your beagle gets to stay."

"Thank you, commander."

=====

Having arrived at the Starbase a few hours earlier than expected T'Lanna had made her way to the nearest restaurant to enjoy a hearty meal. It wasn't that she hadn't had time to eat enroute, she'd simply not bothered. She'd been too busy preparing herself for her new assignment, she had a pile of PADDs all with crew files and reports on as well as PADDs full of previous mission reports. She liked to read and digest what she could but she still had plenty more to get through. Making her way to the CO's ready room she pressed the door chime and waited for an answer.

Soral waited for the CO to open the door. He was pleased to see that she was adapting well to the new system.

"Speak of the devil" she said using an Earth expression she had picked up in her years of working along side Humans. Victrix was getting used to this newer technology, more holographic yet still using the LCARS operating system she was used to. Long gone were the days of the 2370s and '80s. This was a new era of technology. It was adapt or fizzle out. She operated the display above her desk and the doorway opened allowing the individual to step into the Ready Room.

T'Lanna walked into the ready room and across to her new CO's desk. She noted the presence of the ships XO as well as she handed over the PADD containing her orders. "Lieutenant T'Lanna Vali, ships Psychologist reporting for duty Commander."

Victrix breathed a sigh of relief. "Lieutenant, you have no idea how good it is to have you aboard. I was deeply concerned with the logistics of my mission and the prospect of not being able to find someone for the position before embarking on our mission. You will be true asset for this mission, please have a seat" she gestured for a chair across from her desk.

Soral gave a nod at the woman. "Lieutenant welcome aboard."

"Thank you both" T'Lanna took a seat and brushed her hair behind her pointed ears. It was something she did automatically when she wanted her hair out of the way. "It sounds like I arrived just in the nick of time, as the saying goes."

Soral stood back letting the CO take the lead. He was an observer. Any new Vulcan was welcomed but something told him that this one was unusual and given her Betazoid abilities he kept his mental walls up.

"You're of mixed heritage, Lieutenant. Betazoid and Vulcan?" Victrix inquired. "I am sure you will do excellent work in your position aboard the starship. I am just curious about the extent of your abilities. Betazoids are known to be empathic and have a bit of telepathic communication between one another. My experience with half-Betazoids has been they have some empathic abilities but dulled down a bit by the other species in their genetic makeup. How are your abilities?"

"You're correct in that I'm empathic Commander, I'm also a line of sight and touch telepath." T'Lanna relaxed back in her seat getting more comfortable. "I'm also experienced in the use of the Vulcan mind-meld, although I've only done it a couple of times."

Victrix nodded "Good to know, though I do not wish to be on the receiving end of a Vulcan mind-meld anytime soon...if ever" replied the Acting Commanding Officer. "We will be leaving the fleetyard within the next few days hopefully. We have a bit of a detour to make in order to pick up a member of the crew, but from there we will be digging to the heart of my special assignment, this starship's first mission" explained the woman. "What exactly is your area of expertise in your field?" she asked.

"I have specialties in forensic and trauma psychology, as well as having studied and practiced in other areas Ma'am. I spent two years working with JAG before moving onto assignments aboard Starships." T'Lanna looked at Victrix curiously. "May I ask what the assignment is?"

Lieutenant Commander Victrix nodded. "I'll be sending you more details or Lieutenant Commander Soral can provide you with them, but we are looking for a ghost if you will" she gave a prelude and hook to draw the woman's attention. "Not the kind that roam through old buildings and haunt a place mind you, but the kind of person who goes off the grid, unable to be found, and rarely has been seen since. The 'ghost' in question is a Commander Barret Stillwater, career Starfleet officer who left Starfleet a few years back. Our mission is to find him, and I believe your background and expertise will be crucial in doing so."

T'Lanna raised an eyebrow in typical Vulcan fashion. "To coin a Vulcan phrase, fascinating!" She smiled. "I'll do my best Commander. It's going to be interesting to say the least."

"Indeed." Soral added.

"Is there a particular reason that he's gone off grid? Did he simply up and disappear of his own accord? Or do we not know anything at all?" T'Lanna hoped she wasn't too much right now.

Victrix took a sip of coffee and let out a long sigh. This was her area of expertise; paperwork was where she was masterful. "He resigned his commission a few years ago. Of course, the Federation keeps respectable track of its citizens, but once they step outside of our territory they become more difficult to keep tabs on" she said. "He resigned after a long healthy career with Starfleet, but butted heads with changes in admiralty. He felt the Federation and Starfleet in particular wronged the Romulans when we pulled back from the evacuation and relocation efforts. personally, I agree with him, but we cannot change the past."

She continued on "I will provide you with his official personnel file" she stated. "Additionally, I will put in an immediate request to have your security clearance raised. Once that is completed you'll have practically free reign of the starship, including access to the intelligence department's personnel and resources. From there we can see about getting you the Starfleet Intelligence dossier on Commander Stillwater and perhaps you can use that to develop a psychological profile of the man...understand how he operates and where he may be."

T'Lanna nodded. "I'll certainly do my best Commander. Hopefully, I'll be able to provide you with enough of a profile to give us an idea where to start searching."

"You'll have anyone and everything you need at your disposal" she replied with a smile. "That includes me as well. My background is in communications, but I took a few courses in sociology. I'm also very thorough with research and I believe if we do enough digging that together, we will be able to track this man down. Practically every fish in the seas needs to come up for air at some point. There has to be some sort of evidence of where he has been, once we find that out we can start seeing where those breadcrumbs lead us."

"I will certainly need you Commander." T'Lanna smiled. "The more input I can get the better a profile you'll get in return."

"You mentioned two years working in the Judge Advocate General's office," Victrix said bringing up that topic. "Stillwater may have a file or two with JAG that might be worth looking at. There were never any formal charges against him, but he did provide testimony for JAG prosecutors in some cases. Those may provide some insight into his character."

Soral thought a moment. "Commander, I know that SFI keeps files on all Starfleet members I may be able to use a contact there. With your permission I'll take my leave and see if I can find anything out." He also knew that the commander could use some time with T'Lanna, it was always best to give the CO alone time with he senior crew that was new. And he was raring to get started.

"Of course, Soral" replied Lieutenant Commander Victrix. "You're dismissed. See what you can get for us" she added.

"I'll no doubt see you later Commander" T'Lanna offered a smile as she looked at Soral.

He gave a nod and then turned to the CO and gave a bow. "Commander." He left. He had a man who owed him many favours.

With Lieutenant Commander Soral gone, it left Victrix with T'Lanna. Victrix still had some coffee left in her mug, she had done a decent job at nursing it for the time being. Taking another sip, she sat the mug down and gestured toward the replicator. "Please feel free to treat yourself to something, Lieutenant. I am looking forward to working with you."

"Thank you Commander." T'Lanna smiled and moved across to the replicator to get herself a drink. "Hot chocolate please" she waited for the drink to dispense before carefully picking it up and returning to her seat. She took a sip before placing it gently down on a placemat on the end of the desk. "It's nice to feel welcome, I've found in the past that not everyone appreciates having an ex-Borg around."

"You're one of the lucky ones" Victrix replied to the woman. "I can only imagine how difficult it has been, but many ex-Borg in Starfleet were purged through retirement, false charges, or simply being made to feel unwanted. Some resigned, a few like yourself managed to stay" she added. "There was once a time when we took ex Borg drones, removed as many implants as we could and have them undergo immense therapy for the rest of their liberated lives. Now, we treat them about as the Romulan refugees or worse" she added.

T'Lanna nodded. "True, hence why I try and make my own presence one of value. I try to do what I can to prove the worth of ex-Borg, we can be valuable if allowed to be." She paused to sip her drink. "I will always uphold the rights of those liberated from the Borg. I do not however, let that interfere with my duties as a Starfleet Officer."

Victrix nodded. "I can certainly appreciate that. There are not enough people left to stand up for the liberated ex Borg" continued the Commanding Officer. "We have a few days before disembarking. Please feel free to get acquainted with the ship and it's crew."

"Thank you ma'am I'll do that" T'Lanna nodded and smiled before she politely finished off her hot chocolate.

"I will catch up with you as soon as I have something" replied Victrix. "We're going to have to work closely" she added.

“I’ll look forward to it Commander” T’Lanna smiled warmly. “In the meantime I’ll start my profile and then we can add to it.”

Lieutenant Commander Victrix stood from her seat after nodding. "Let's get to work, Lieutenant" she said politely. "Dismissed" added Victrix finally getting the hang of this whole command thing. Soral was starting to be a subconscious reminder of the whole formal and procedural movement of ship matters.

OFF:

Lieutenant Commander Victrix
Acting Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Commander Soral
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Vali
Ship's Psychologist