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Posted on Sun Mar 5th, 2023 @ 9:41am by Captain Reuben Gregnol (Mirror) & Evanna Belyaev

Mission: Mission 16: Hysperia
Location: ISS Fenrir
Timeline: 2397
4692 words - 9.4 OF Standard Post Measure

“So when exactly were you going to tell me about all of this?” Was the soft question Gregnol raised as he sat at the terminal looking around the office. He had been intrigued the first time he had come there but now he was more obvious to know about the security of the room when his probing is security had revealed there was more to it all then he had been aware. When had his science department gone so rogue under his command? He had thought he had control but it seemed that the Empress had a lot more control over him or suspicion than he thought. How was he going to bring them back under control without removing them all or annoying the empress?

"As soon as I'd determined whose pocket it was your Science Chief had his hand in."

From behind her desk, which served as a main terminal for an intricate security system far in excess of the usual requirements, Evanna trained her eyes on the information scrolling across the screen in front of her and spared only a brief glance for the man sitting opposite. It would take time, she understood, and varying degrees of acceptance and rebellion for Gregnol to find peace with the deception that had proven necessary in ridding his ship of a significant security breach. There was a chance, the operative understood, that he'd never fully trust her because it was perfectly in keeping with Reuben Gregnol's nature not to trust anyone but he was intelligent enough, she wagered, to follow the logic of her predicament.

"My intentions when I first stepped into your crew very quickly deviated, if you recall. There was an entire genesis project underway that had completely bypassed your authorisation, and somehow managed to thrive without raising suspicion. Installing Sanctum protocols became vital in tracking what was going on." An eyebrow arched at him, more relaxed in its playfulness now that they were more or less moving in tandem at last. "Who do you think eliminated the psionic shielding that allowed your interrogation force to finally uncover the treason? If it's any consolation," she added, returning her attention to the screen, "I much prefer the removal of subterfuge from our interactions. I fought for assignment here to bring you into the fold, not slip between the shadows without you noticing."

He did not like it one bit that someone had survived on his crew for so long without suspicion but he had thoughts on how that had been possible between egos like his former executive officer and his former engineering officer they had caused more than enough drama for people to slip through unnoticed. “Mmm hmm.” Was the man response that was more of a response than was expected when he was looking through the information in front of him. “The genesis project has been removed to the palace completely now right?” He asked moving the subject to things he had a handle on and some degree of control.

"That was the instruction once they realised you knew about it, yes."

As was becoming increasingly easier to decode, there was a twitch of sly amusement between the stoic lines of Belyaev's concentration. A slight intonation change that wasn't quite smugness but nevertheless demonstrated a laconic dismissal of the outrage of those who had simply been bested at their own game. Gregnol's awareness of the project had been entirely her doing, her very first act upon being placed in charge of the mess she'd been covertly helping to tidy up. Evanna knew enough of the people likely working behind the scenes to guess at how much irritation Gregnol's involvement had caused but she had very little sympathy for ruined plans. More to the point, the man they'd placed in charge had proven to be compromised in various conflicting ways to such an extent that the project itself owed her, as far as she was concerned, for salvaging its inevitable failure. Or resale. Belyaev wouldn't have put it past her predecessor to try and steal the whole damn lot and auction it off.

“Good.” He wanted the reminder of where he had gotten married and where he had blown up several years after off of his vessel. It was a reminder of different times and a reminder that he could and would destroy everything to achieve his goal. “But just call them the Empress. That is who you are reporting to after all.” He added standing to carry on looking at the report. “So where does the department go under you?”

"My intention remains the same. I sought assignment here because we are headed into conflict that requires your input. I will admit," Belyaev conceded, closing her eyes for a moment to stretch her head back, "that I did not anticipate an immediate promotion." Rolling her shoulders until they released an audible pop, the Science Chief then relaxed her stance again and opened her eyes to regard him. "But I suppose it will make things easier. It really depends on how much faith my Captain chooses to place in me." Blue eyes held his for a moment before Evanna shook her head dismissively and rose from her chair, transferring the data currently on her terminal screen to the larger display. "At the very least, I expect a significant purge of personnel followed by a stringent recruitment drive. Anyone connected to the corruption has already been dealt with but with the genesis project removed, I have far more bee-keepers than I require.”

“Send Ford the list. He can cull whoever you need to be gone.” The man could do what he wanted with Science with his permission and relief. “I put a lot of faith in you, Evanna, but you must appreciate how it looks from my point of view.” He said choosing his words carefully so not to have the usual ice or venom that it normally would with something as deep and tormented as he was sometimes. “This is not just Captain to Officer now is it?”

Though she kept working for a moment with her back to him, there was the faintest pause in movement to acknowledge his question, an almost imperceptible hesitation in the flow of her natural cadence that most never noticed because they either didn't take the time to study her in enough depth, or because Evanna was usually far better at avoiding it entirely. Uncertainty went both ways, mistrust was also not a one-way-street. She had fought opposition at every turn to make this assignment work, was stoically working against the desires of her own father to do what she believed was right for the circumstances, and had already encountered several deviations from her plans, not-the-least being Gregnol himself. Immersing herself in his career, his psych profile, whatever the agency had on him, had not prepared her for the complication of catching his eye. It had certainly not prepared her for the complication of her own immediate, intense attraction to the man.

Finishing up the sequence she was working on, the blonde Lieutenant slowly turned to face her Captain.

"No," she quietly agreed. "I suppose it is not." A breath drawn inwards became a slow exhalation, her chin angled upwards slightly as the eye contact between them ignited the connection Evanna wagered neither of them had expected. "But there are only so many ways that I can reframe the same series of events. Had your Science Department not been the root of several layers of extremely compromised loyalty, you would have known my purpose for being on board the minute you responded to my request for audience." Her lips twitched slightly. "Which you never did, I might add. I eventually retracted it and suspect it never made it to your desk. Reason Number 1 for bringing my own toys on board." She indicated the room they stood in with a sweep of her hand.

“Are there anymore rooms that are set up like this?” He finally demanded as he turned from his pacing to look at her. He had never gotten the request but if she had requested it’s removal his yeoman would have never mentioned it with some many request coming and going. This was more complicated that she had expected which was not that unusual as he was a man of intense emotions but knowing Jeassaho was out there had cooled him to every other connection other than this one.

"No, there are not. Sanctum is my own program," Evanna explained, her words chosen carefully. She knew enough of the man, had studied him with enough eye for detail, that she understood his hesitancy. And, knowing his capacity for extremes of emotion, her own lack of trust was mostly centred around an inability to easily let her guard down lest he take it into his head suddenly to treat her like the enemy. She was prepared for it, had not come on board his ship expecting an easy transition. The tangle of desire and mutual synergy had not been accounted for, however, and thus there had been no prior planning for the intensity of wanting to prove her intent. "And yes, I contravened several layers of security clearance to install it here. I have operated behind your back, overridden authorisation above my rank, and taken the liberty of determining an independent response to the corruption I uncovered. You could say that I have perhaps been my own authority for a little too long."

Though she pushed herself away from the console then, Belyaev thought better of approaching him. Instead, she allowed herself to stand unsupported, at ease but also in preparation of accepting whatever it was he decided he needed to do in order to move on. "Understanding that I have been capable of that brings with it reason to suspect I will simply abuse my advantage again. I am aware of your position, Reuben. I only ask that you take my eventual disclosure into consideration before you make any decisions." Her features remained slack with placid composure, controlled even now as she availed herself to his verdict. "It has never been, nor do I intend it to become, my intention to work in opposition to you."

“I am not taking any decisions against you that I have not thought through carefully.” He had cooled towards her since the disclosure but it was more to think and to have the space to think. It was not easy to think through how foolish he felt but he could not deny he might have done the same. “You worked in opposition yet want to share my bed, you are a contradiction to say the least.” He swore under his breath in Russian that took the edge off what he wanted to say as he moved around the console that separated them.

"I worked in opposition because I had no way of knowing how far the corruption had spread," she pointed out. "I didn't exactly have a direct line to you, if I recall at the time, you barely acknowledged Sciences existed." Evanna knew what she was up against here, the justifiable paranoia of a man who had a dozen targets painted on his back on any given day. "I understand that I overstepped, I asked for this assignment and undertook the oath and then immediately behaved as the operative I have been for most of my life instead of an officer on board your ship." It was perhaps the first time in known history where Belyaev had ever admitted fault but it was important enough now to everything that came next that they draw a distinction between what had been and what would be. "So fault my methods, by all means, but I have only ever gathered intel for you." Her eyes held his as he approached. "I have only ever acted for you."

The man could feel the building anger inside of him, he could easily take it out on the woman he had never struck a woman in that way before leaving that to lesser men but it was a tough call in his mind as he gripped her arms and pushed her back against the console. “I am fuming. I have been fuming for days and if you were anyone else you would have spent that last couple of days in an agony booth instead of working.” He told her in Russian perfecting to shift to that to have this conversation when it conveyed the emotions he was unleashing.

Years of training had built instincts that were hard to control. Belyaev fought against them now, determined not to be baited into giving him more reason to seek solace in abuse. Her own temper was less of the spewing lava pit that his resembled and more a frozen glacier that set her features into stoic neutrality, her arms slack beneath his grip with hands that remained intentionally relaxed despite the urge to ball them into fists. She had, to the best of her ability, accommodated his sensibilities but she could do nothing about his rampant fixation with control, nor the ego that sat behind it. Acknowledging that she had overstepped the boundaries of her new assignment was one thing, she'd be damned if she was going to apologise for being skilled enough to get away with it. If he was smart, Gregnol would realise he had that same aptitude at his service now, she'd revealed more of herself to him in her willingness to address the initial deceit than she had ever tolerated in the past and, in doing so, had demonstrated the capacity of her talent. She had orchestrated everything, right down to going over her father's head to the Empress herself, in order than he benefit from her expertise but if he was going to get stuck on the fact that he'd not realised what she was doing...

Evanna blinked languidly, intentionally regulating her breathing to push her own vitriol down to the pit of her stomach. When she responded, it was in a low, quiet tone, in the language he'd chosen to evoke.

"I am who I am. What you make of me is your choice."

“No that line might work on others but not me.” He responded his tone less emotional but no less annoyed. His grip on her arms lessened a little as he just stared at her. “The Empress has assured me that you are no longer under anyone’s command other than mine and hers is that the true?” He finally asked wanting to hear it from her that there was no more deceit or espionage around him and her.

"I'm starting to think no line works on you." Her composure hadn't faltered, though it was reminiscent of the mask she wore when an emotional response wasn't an option. Beneath the layers of her uniform, Evanna had no doubt there were imprints of his hands, which was not the first time he'd marked her skin but was the only non-consensual damage he'd ever inflicted. "I have been attempting to explain as much since the moment I divulged my purpose for being here. The only way I could secure deployment was to cease all other operations and transfer my service." He was the man she'd altered her entire career for and Evanna had not arrived with any preconceived expectations that he'd be an easy man to work alongside but this was circling around the same fracture in his ego and she was out of words to compensate. "I was not being glib. What you make of me is your choice."

Gregnol stared at her and took in every line and curve of her face that told him she was not trying to deceive him any longer and he was over stepping the mark. He never hit a woman in that way in argument, never hit a slave, he had gotten where he was through charisma, loyalty and fighting the right people not the weak or feeble. “Fine. Right.” It was Terran standard words that he slipped back into. “You are right. It is on me.” The man closed his eyes as if centring himself and slowly let her go and pushed back away from her. He looked exhausted for a moment before the mask came back up and he frowned. “I hate the intelligence services.” He spat.

Relaxation presented differently on features that had already intentionally adopted it as a charade. There really wasn't much to change about Evanna's posture, or the expression she wore, other than to note the nuances that sat behind her eyes. In keeping with a poet's expectations, they remained the key to interpreting her, expressive in their own way if a person knew how to read miniscule changes in their temperature. Gregnol's decision to back down, the physical retreat, coupled with an admission of what was likely the true reason for his riled temper saw a flicker of heat return and though she didn't smile, her raised eyebrows afforded some relief to the stone-cold impassiveness of Evanna's stare. "If it's any consolation," she remarked, allowing a slide towards undertones of humour, "It doesn't have a great love for you either." It was true; Kristof hated Gregnol. That sort of attitude tended to set the flavour for an organisation's dealings, but also spoke considerably to the woman's strength of character. She wasn't swayed easily by other's opinions. Slowly bringing her arms up to flex, one hand reaching across to rub where he had held her, Belyaev offered the very faintest of smiles. "You never behave the way it wants you to."

“Good. They should never forget I did what they had thousands of operatives attempting to do.” He said shortly before shaking his head. “What do they expect from me. I act as the situation allows.” He muttered leaning over a console breathing deeply. He hated everyone in the intelligent services as they thought themselves above everyone.

"You make their job difficult." Oddly enough, there were glimmers of pride hidden amongst her accented words, always carefully plucked from the orchard of available options. Leaning back on the console she'd been previously forced up against, Evanna resisted the urge to approach in recognition of his need for space if he was going to regulate. "Which, incidentally, was always my favourite part of any dealings the agency had with you." She studied him, taking the time to consider what a path forward might look like. If he only ever saw her as a resemblance of his enemies then they would keep circling this pit of revulsion, where his own conflicting interpretations of her worth resulted in outbursts that robbed him of control. Evanna was not intimidated by a little friction but she couldn't offer him what she intended to be support if he continued to resent her past.

"There is a reason severing my contracts with them in favour of this assignment was not the hardship my father thought it should be," she offered quietly, opting to match his attempt at honest disclosure with a personal revelation of her own. Neither was comfortable in this realm, Evanna was equally as prone to keeping her cards close to her chest in that regard, but meeting each other somewhere amidst a layer of intimacy previously closed off seemed like the only way forward. "Being good at the job does not mean I mourn being rid of it."

“They make my job difficult too.” He murmured looking down at the security functions of the room that it was was telling him. The programming was immense and he almost wondered if he had a way to create something similar in his quarters. It was freeing and allowed him a moment to re gather everything that he was into one space. He needed that time bent over to bring back his equilibrium. “Mourning is weakness and you are not weak.” He said over his shoulder with a frown.

The silence stretched on for a moment before he finally stood himself up straight but did not look back to her keeping his gaze on the wall. “Big step to leave your father's work behind. So where does it leave your future?” He asked.

"With you."

The words were blunt, and might have been presumptuous had they not already determined that her career was now solely aligned with his. There was no escaping the personal undertones, nor did Evanna see much benefit in denying the existence of sentiment that breached professional limitations, but the answer remained the same regardless of whether he refused to pursue their evident chemistry or not.

"Failing that, wherever the Empress redeploys me. I am hoping it won't come to that."

Despite the fact that he wasn't looking at her, Evanna kept her stare focused directly on his profile, breathing through the uncomfortable and restrictive sense of vulnerability that came from supplicating herself in any way. Like her handlers before him, or even her own fathers, Gregnol would never own her thoughts but Evanna was more than experienced enough to make compliance second nature. It helped that she was finally aligning with a methodology that she admired. All that was required now was time and opportunity to continue what she had started. She had uncovered the corruption in his Science department, had utilised her training and her personal assets to track down his wife, and had prevented a would-be assassin from blowing up a cheese platter in his face. She had personally handed him her entire dossier. She had even melted under the insistence of his passion. All that remained was for Gregnol himself to realise what he now had at his disposal.

"The agency has done its best to keep you in the dark for too long. You are amongst the Empire's greatest assets and yet there are layers of disrespect that need addressing, especially when we are headed into territory where you have already demonstrated a capacity to act that far exceeds the intelligence service's hesitation. They trained me, yes. They have utilised me for the best part of most of my life, yes. All of that only to lead to this." The blonde woman shifted her eyes to glance around the room. "All this is yours now." She exhaled slowly and returned her attention to him. "As am I. My future is here, until you determine otherwise."

“People get scared when you shine too brightly, Evanna. They fear fire.” Gregnol said darkly as he took in what she said. “With me hmm? I had better keep you alive then.” He muttered cracking his neck before he turned back around looking more determined and himself again.

The faintest smile cut through the woman's lasered intensity. "That would be preferable, yes."

“So tell me, my Science Chief, what exactly have you found… what was all these readings before emotions got the better of me.” He took the blame for the turn of events easily. It had been his anger and frustration that had had changed the tensions in the room and lost focus.

It was reassurance enough to allow her to turn her back to him. A return to professional boundaries was a reprieve as well as an opportunity to prove the value of her contribution. Turning, Evanna brought up a star chart and stretched her fingers outwards on the display to increase the magnification. "The information we retrieved from the rebel vessel suffered enough degradation that interpreting its flight manifest has been challenging. The same protocols that allowed me to unlock their personnel manifest weren't sufficient in extrapolating out useful estimates of the ship's recent movements. Thankfully," she continued, "our failed assassins left behind a perfectly intact ship with a very thorough and immaculately preserved flight record. Rebel operations are wide-spread, of course, there was no guarantee the two sets of data would show any similarities at all."

Several key taps split the display in two and, side by side, each map showed the flight path of both vessels for the past month. In the case of the destroyed vessel, only several locations were confirmed enough to appear as framed star systems, the rest existing as a seemingly never-ending stream of partially-complete coordinates with countless permutations. The second map, however, was dotted with confirmed locations.

"Of the four locations whose coordinates I was able to extract from the damaged records, three of them are shared by our assassins." A slender finger swung back and forth between the matching pairs. "I am still working on extrapolating useful inference from the remaining potential overlaps but we have confirmation that a ship once full of very interesting key figures and our assassins-for-hire have visited the same three locations in the past month."

Evanna turned back to regard her Captain with composed confidence. There was no need to boast; this was what she did.

"A reasonable place to start your search."

“Hoth is still top of the list.” He said seeing the planet on the top of the list. Hoth had been a fixation since it had come up in the last discussion. The other two planets were vaguely dead worlds but Hoth was more desirable as you could turn snow and ice into water stores. “We go there when the Empress gives us our wings back.” He decided just getting a feeling that it might be the best start.

Belyaev inclined her head in agreement. "I will continue to work with the data we have. Using the second ship's data to pose conjecture regarding the first vessel's movements will be less accurate and I'd be hesitant to suggest you invest time and resources on guesswork. It may turn up some underlying patterns that will be more reliable, however."

“I am happy to go to Hoth. It has what the other two don’t- water. Ships especially old like the rebels will be will not have water stores like we do that we can maintain. Plus the terrain allows people to hide. Andorians used to use their terrain like that.” It was a wise move to use a place like that for meetings or supply catches. It would be what he did.

"There may be other information we can use from the second ship's memory core." Rounding to face him entirely, Evanna settled her arms behind her back, a gentle posture of respect that didn't quite match the dance of subtle merriment behind her eyes. Her demeanour was so poised, so measured and intentional, that only those who knew her well would have been able to pinpoint all the little moments where her choices veered towards playfulness. In this, she likely flirted more with Gregnol than anyone typically dared, but it resembled little more than private moments of amusement. "We haven't had it officially released to us, however, so I would need permission to...pursue it further." Steal it, in other words. As good as her word, those decisions were his to make now.

“Do what the wild card demands.” He said with an indication that she could continue doing what she needed to do to get what they needed. “I will talk to the Empress as well.” Him and Nelani were well overdue a conversation around what his place was to be in her future. It was a similar conversation to the one that had happened between them. He just hoped it was less fractious than the one that had happened in the last hour.

A simple incline of her head conveyed Evanna's understanding. "I'll let you know what I find."

And that was the end of it, at least for now. Though she continued to watch him as she moved, the Science Chief eventually slipped back into the chair behind her desk and started to queue the programs she'd need to extract information out from under the palace security's noses. Given that they'd allowed several assassins to pierce the Empress' inner circle whilst fully armed, she didn't envisage it would be a particularly difficult process.