A Different Kind of Skullduggery - Part 2

Posted on Fri Jan 31st, 2025 @ 4:55am by Lieutenant Commander Rebecca Bluegarden & Gert'Rudd Barkh & Lieutenant Freya Michaud
Edited on on Fri Jan 31st, 2025 @ 4:57am

1,277 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Season 1, Episode 2: War, Peace, And All That Jazz
Location: Recreation Deck - Deck 16

Previously, on Star Trek: Deep Space K-9:

"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.'

And now, the continuation:

The two officers stepped off the turbolift right into the hustle and bustle of the recreation deck. After having the location of the embassy pointed out to her by Freya, Rebecca was just about to head in the direction of the opulent, neoclassical frontage that was the facade of the Rheuysian embassy, but then she got distracted when she spotted a sign for a familiar red bird which could only mean a delicious fruit smoothie was within reach:

"Excuse me, Lieutenant; do you mind if we take a real quick detour for a second?" Rebecca asked, pointing in the direction sign that had 'Wawa' written on it. "I would kill for a good fruit smoothie right about now..."

'Uh, sure,' Michaud replied, a little non-plussed. What is it with the senior officers and food around here?, she wondered. 'Is it, uhm, worth it?'

"You ain't never had Wawa before?" Rebecca smirked. "Well, let me introduce you, then."

Following the signs, Rebecca and Freya found themselves at one of the shops right between the bowling alley and the Rheuysian Embassy. This particular space had been turned into a 24 hour convenience store franchised from a chain of gas stations and convenience stores along the eastern seaboard of the former United States. The store's selection of snacks, while impressive, was only a fraction of what was typically offered at a Wawa location on Earth due to the limited space they had to work with.

Fortunately for Rebecca, they somehow still offered their full menu. Though it was only around lunchtime, so pizza wouldn't be available until 1600 hours, but it was always time to order a smoothie.

"Alright, let's see here..." Rebecca said as she began operating one of the order kiosks. "Mixed berry smoothie, large..."

As Rebecca was ordering, another group walked into the store. It was three Rheuysian women from the embassy, one of whom was Ambassador Barkh:

"I must say, for a drink we as a people consumed for survival, these humans sure have found a way to make it... Exquisite, and craveable." Barkh commented as the three women walked up to the Kiosk next to Rebecca and Freya.

'Representative,' Michaud nodded in the direction of Barkh, 'it's a pleasure to run in to you again.' She motioned towards Bluegarden, 'I don't believe you've had the opportunity to meet the station's new First Officer, Commander Bluegarden.'

Rebecca looked up from her order as soon as the word 'Representative' had been uttered, and she found herself looking at the Rheuysian Ambassador, who had rolled up right next to her while she had been ordering. Rebecca had to admit, she wasn't expecting the Ambassador to be so delicate-looking, contrary to her mental image of the Rheuysians being a gruff, harsh-looking people.

"New First Officer?" Barkh asked. "What happened to Commander Hopkins?"

"Long story short, this Hopkins lady got reassigned, and I was brought in to replace her." Rebecca said.

"A bold choice for Starfleet to switch First Officers this close to the talks." Barkh commented. "Let's hope they don't decide to switch out commanders while they're at it..."

"I have my doubts that Commander Vincent will be going anywhere anytime soon." Rebecca commented, looking at the screen of what the Rheuysians had ordered so far to see that they too were ordering smoothies. "Y'all like the smoothies here too?"

"We refer to them as MRDs, or 'Meals Ready to Drink.'" Barkh explained. "Following the Great Freeze, regular MRDs were rendered useless by the extreme cold. However, it was discovered that ration nutrition could be made into a cold beverage, with a few simple ingredients mixed with either snow or crushed ice. They were never the tastiest things, and growing up, I never thought I would find an MRD that I would actually enjoy. But, ever since this... 'Wawa'- opened on the station, I've been pleasantly surprised."

"Yeah, they do make a damn good smoothie." Rebecca admitted. "Anyhow, once we all get our smoothies, I was hoping to make a follow up on a request made during a previous visit the Lieutenant made."

"A fast actor, I see." Barkh noted after recoiling in surprise that Rebecca already knew about Freya's previous visit. "Lieutenant, is this true?" She asked Freya.

'This is true,' Michaud confirmed, tucking a stray loop of her hair behind an ear self-consciously. 'Commander Bluegarden felt it only prudent to follow up on my report as a matter of priority given how close the talks are.'

"I see." Barkh nodded, turning to her accomplices. "Well, ladies; it looks like our bowling match will have to wait." She told them.

The other two women nodded in understanding.

"Let us all finish ordering our MRDs first," Barkh said, noticing that Rebecca was also in the middle of ordering. "Then we can discuss the Kaiser's decision."

'Sounds reasonable,' Michaud replied with a neutral half-smile. 'Important to get those vitamins and irons in efficiently - keeps us all going that much longer.'

Once everyone's orders had been placed, and the frozen beverages had been collected, Barkh led Rebecca and Freya back to the Rheuysian Embassy. Exchanging salutes with the receptionist (much to Rebecca's horror, as she had not been briefed that they did that) before leading the two Starfleet officers back to her personal office, which Barkh proceeded to secure behind them.

"So, I've heard back from the Kaiser:" Barkh said in a forthright manner. "She has agreed to share sensitive data on the Kaiser from the Stars' assassination; including the security footage of the moment she was shot. However, as this is a deeply personal matter to both the Kaiser and the Rheuysian people, the Palace has altered the footage to obscure the Kaiser from the Stars' identity."

"As long as that was the only doctorin' the palace did to the recording, I believe we can respect the want for privacy." Rebecca nodded in Freya's direction.

Avoiding pulling a face, Michaud nodded, though she was puzzled that they would want to obscure the Kaiser from the Star's identity. She wondered if there would be another way to find an image of her. They had a cult of personality around the person, it seemed, so the image had to be somewhere.

'I think that would be acceptable,' Michaud managed, not mentioning she would probably make a copy and run it through image analysis to spot any other possible changes to the data.

To be continued...

 

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