A Different Kind of Skullduggery - Part 1

Posted on Fri Dec 27th, 2024 @ 7:30am by Lieutenant Commander Rebecca Bluegarden & Lieutenant Freya Michaud
Edited on on Fri Dec 27th, 2024 @ 7:31am

1,548 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Season 1, Episode 2: War, Peace, And All That Jazz
Location: Science Lab
Timeline: After 'Last Minute Reassignments'

Following her meeting with Commander Vincent, it had become clear to Rebecca just how little she knew of the situation at hand. So, on her way out of the Commander's office, Rebecca had stopped by the receptionist once again and asked for directions to the Science Labs. Rebecca would familiarize herself with Melee in time, but for the moment, Rebecca believed that Michaud would be more of use to her: Rebecca had seen the Science Officer's notes on both the Eifie and the Rheuysians; notes which could have only been made had one actually met both species.

Furthermore, Rebecca hadn't told Michaud that she was coming: She wanted to see how well the officers of the station fared with surprise visits.

Michaud was sat in her office within the Science Labs, PADDs piled around her as she dug through the latest reports from her planet. Several of her junior staff were embarking on some promising projects, and more than a few had come forward with some preliminary proposals to present to the Eifie for joint projects.

Reluctantly she moved one proposal involving Eifie males to the bottom of the priority list. Not quite time for that, yet, she thought. Musings on what it could be like to be an Eifie male, what kind of life they led, crossed her mind as she allowed her thoughts to drift a moment before concentrating on the matters to hand.

It felt selfish, but Michaud was eager to get through the proposals in order to read some field reports that had come in from neighbouring systems from other science crews that had been in the area and conducted their own expeditions.

Her treat for the day, right at the bottom of the pile, was a paper on new subspace transceivers and their usefulness published by Daystrom. A PADDful of data points, a beer and some chips would make her night.

The door to her office was open, per her open-door policy. Michaud felt strongly science worked best when colleagues were able to spontaneously collaborate. As such, she heard the swoosh of the lab doors as they opened and looked up.

Frowning, she got to her feet and in quick steps was at her door. Spotting the blonde in command red, with a remarkably well-coordinated hair clip, Michaud felt a little flutter in her stomach and her mouth dried up a second.

'Uh, Commander,' she called out, noting the rank on her sleeve, 'can we help you?'

"Yes, I'm looking for a Lieutenant Michaud." The commander responded, the other woman's southern accent immediately apparent. "I was told that this was her office, and I could find her here."

'Yeah, my office is just back there,' Michaud replied with a warm smile as she jerked her thumb to indicate the door she'd walked out of. 'Come take a seat, eh?'

Leading them both back through the door, she took her seat on her side of the desk, and moved the pile of PADDs to one side so she could better see her superior officer. 'I thought I'd met all the brass on the station,' Michaud said casually, 'but I'm sure I'd have remembered you, Commander ...?' she trailed off, waiting for an introduction.

"Bluegarden, Ma'am." Rebecca responded. "Rebecca Bluegarden. I'm relatively new around here, and I'm here to replace both Commander Chernobyl and Commander Hopkins, effective immediately."

'Ah, welcome, then Commander Rebecca Bluegarden,' Michaud waved, ignoring the fact she had never met a Chernobyl or Hopkins in her brief time aboard. 'This is my little queendom, such as it is. Would you care for some coffee? I have some passable Fleet-supplied stuff around here somewhere.'

"Long as it ain't decaf, I'll take a cup." Rebecca said, not wanting to make a bad impression by turning down the Lieutenant's offer. "There's better ways to wind down an evening than with that swill."

'If it's not caffeinated, it's not worth it,' Michaud confirmed as she got up from her seat and went to find the coffee pot on its warmer and retrieved it.

She set the pot, and two Starfleet-issue mugs on the desk in front of her, and began to pour. 'I like mine black, and strong. But I can get you some creamer and sugar if you'd like ...'

"Just a splash of cream to take the edge off." Rebecca responded. "I only like it black and strong if it's my first cup of the morning."

'Black and strong is the only way for me,' Michaud replied with a chuckle as she poured creamer into Bluegarden's mug, followed by coffee, and pushed it towards her. 'So you must be the new Executive Officer for Kay-Nine, right?' the Canadian made the deduction as she poured her own coffee. 'What got you lumped here with us?'

"Well, that's the thing:" The Floridian responded. "I was only supposed to take over as Chief of Security. I only just found out that I was also taking over as First Officer when I gave the terms of my field promotion a re-read."

Rebecca paused to take a sip of her coffee. It was still just a little too strong for her, but she wasn't about to complain.

"So, that being said, as I'm new in town, and I've been told we have about six hours before the first talks between the Elves and the Rheuysians." She continued. "My orders are to learn as much about each of them as I can in that time, and that's why I'm here: I took a glimpse at some of your notes on the way down here, and the information they contain could have only been obtained by someone who's met an Elf and a Rheuysian before."

'An Elf?' Michaud looked confused for a moment, then it clicked. 'Ah, you must mean the Eifie. I have had the opportunity to meet them yes. Gimme a sec,' she worked her desk's integrated console and pulled up her notes. 'They're very different civilisations.'

"How different are we talking here?" Rebecca asked. "Are we talking like Night & Day, Hatfields & McCoys different?"

'Not Hatfields and McCoys, at least not on the Eifie's part. The Eifie have presented themselves as peaceful explorers who simply wish to know more about the galaxy around them. The Rheuysians are authoritarian autarkists that seem suspicious of all around them - the Federation included. However, the Rheuysians did make a troubling allegation about an Eifie-related assassination and connected it with Eifie males. Representative Barkh indicated a wider Eifie conspiracy against the Rheuysians as well.

'I wouldn't normally give it much thought. But, during our one meeting with the Eifie, they were quite cagey about the male of their species. By all account they're very scarce, and they weren't terribly keen on agreeing to a study to see if we can't increase the percentage of the male population. Or to have access to them at all, to be honest.'

"Well, if we take the Rheuysians' allegations at face value, they may have a valid point:" Rebecca said, stroking her chin. "Such secrecy surrounding the Eifie males would make the perfect place to conceal a deadly assassin... Uh, has the Eifie ambassador been made aware of the allegations?"

Michaud shrugged, 'it's not been made clear to me whether they have made a formal accusation to the Eifie or not. It's still better not to take their accusation at face value. Authoritarian systems such as the Rheuysians do thrive on having an external enemy, or a scapegoat, to encourage loyalty to, and camaraderie with, the regime. For all we know - and I haven't had the information yet - this Kaiser from the Stars fell down some stairs and suffered a bleed on the brain. A highly embarrassing way to die for such regimes. Or it was an internal coup. Not uncommon in such systems either.'

She smiled at Bluegarden, 'hopefully the Representative will receive permission to repeat the official story to us so we can assess it. In any case, no formal request for intervention by the Federation has been lodged.'

"Okay..." Rebecca sighed before standing up. "Well, it looks like our to-do list has already been written: Check up on the Rheuysians to see if the Kaiser is willing to share how her predecessor bit the bullet, and then politely inform the Eifie about the allegations, so that way, they ain't blindsided at the talks in a few hours. Any preference as to which you'd like to do first?"

'The Rheuysians,' Michaud said after a moment's deliberation. 'It's outside my wheelhouse, mostly, but we should have the Rheuysians story first. No sense going at the Eifie half-cocked. Without anything, it would be easy for them to deny everything and we'd probably cause some major diplomatic damage.'

"Well, then; the Rheuysians, it is:" Rebecca declared. She had wanted to meet the Rheuysians especially, so this was turning out to be a slam dunk. "If you'd come with me, please?"

'Of course, Commander,' Michaud replied and drained her mug. She flashed a smile, 'I'll follow you wherever so long as it's interesting.'

To be continued...

 

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